Recovery
by hakubaikou
Summary: As Kenshin recovers from his wounds after his duel with Shishio, his friends sense a threat and take precautions for his safety. Complete.
1. Chapter 01 Introductions

RECOVERY: Chapter 1 - Introductions  
By Haku Baikou  
24.Feb.03  
==============================  
  
Takani Megumi stood outside the room, hesitating, afraid. She frowned. It was unlike her to be this way. Fear was an old acquaintance, one she'd lived with for years, one that drove her to either desperation or action. But never one to freeze her in her steps, dazed like a helpless deer.   
  
"Megumi-sensei?" came Sekihara Sae's voice from beside her. "Is something wrong?"  
  
Megumi shook her head. "No, nothing. It's just that I don't want to...to disturb him if he's sleeping," she said, mentally cringing at how pitiful and unbelievable a lie it was.   
  
Sae apparently took her statement at face value. "Megumi-sensei, I'm afraid what you've heard is true. Himura-san has not opened his eyes since the night of the battle. If anything, I wish you would disturb him. It would be something, at least. He hasn't moved in three days." With that, Sae slid the door open, and Megumi had her first glimpse of Ken-san since he left Tokyo weeks earlier.   
  
The change was alarming.   
  
Three days. Three days he'd been like this.   
  
"He's dying," she whispered, staring in disbelief at the pale form that lay unmoving on the futon by the window. She only vaguely registered Sekihara Sae's soft gasp at her words. Movement returned to her, and she walked the interminable length of the room toward Himura Kenshin.   
  
Sweat drenched his fine red hair and beaded on his forehead. The unhealthy tinge of his lips and the shadows under his eyes were unsettling, but the searing heat emanating from his skin disturbed her the most as she touched his forehead lightly with the back of her hand. The cross-shaped scar on his left cheek burned in angry relief against the pallor of his skin and only served to exaggerate the unnerving stillness of his normally expressive face.   
  
Megumi fought the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. Throughout the carriage ride to the Shirobeko, she'd been afraid that she's lose her composure if her fears about Kenshin's condition were found to be true. To her own surprise, her only sign of distress was the force with which she flung back the rurouni's covers. Ignoring Sae's anxiously whispered questions as to what she was doing, Megumi carefully parted the front of Kenshin's yukata to get a better look at his dressings.   
  
They were competently wrapped, at least. She'd expected as such when she'd heard from the officer that had brought her here that the best doctors in town had been called to see to Kenshin's wounds. Those doctors, however, were already overwhelmed by the myriad injuries suffered by the police and did not have the time to adequately care for Kenshin after their initial assessment and treatment. Okina's people had done a decent job with the dressing changes these doctors had taught them, but they were still amateurs who lacked Megumi's practiced eye. They'd allowed his wounds to become infected. She was sure of it even though she had not yet found the source of the infection.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sae putting the covers back in place over Ken-san's sleeping form.  
  
"Leave them," she ordered, her tone more curt than she'd intended. She made an effort to soften her voice. "He's burning up, Sae. The covers will only make him worse."   
  
With a guilty blink, Sae dropped the covers as if they burned in her hands. Megumi repressed a sudden urge to strike at the other woman. Sae's anxiety and inept actions were driving Megumi mad. But no, that was unfair of her, she knew. Sae had nothing to do with Kenshin's current state. Sae was a gracious woman who had housed Kenshin and the rest of her friends out of the kindness of her heart. And Sae really was a competent and intelligent woman. It wasn't Sae's fault that she knew nothing of caring for a wounded man.  
  
"How long before the others return from the Aoyia?" Megumi asked.  
  
"A few hours at least. They usually don't come back until after sunset. Are you sure you don't want me to send a message to them? I'm sure they'd want to be informed of your arrival as soon as possible."  
  
"No," she assured the woman. "They'll be back soon enough. Plenty of time for reunions then. I need peace and quiet to assess Ken-san, and I'm afraid my friends' enthusiasm wouldn't allow for that."  
  
Sae nodded in understanding. "I'll have someone bring the things you requested as soon as they're ready." Sae had looked at Megumi in some confusion earlier when Megumi had requested her odd assortment of essential materials, but she'd simply nodded and ordered the restaurant staff to see to the doctor's request.   
  
Sae really was a great help, Megumi thought, feeling a bit guilty for being short with her. She really had to get her emotions under better control. She had to forget that it was Ken-san lying before her, had to regain her physician's objectivity, had to keep from screaming in frustration and worry.   
  
The steadiness of her own voice amazed her. "Thank you, Sae." And because she felt it needed to be said, "I apologize if I was rude-"  
  
"No need, Megumi-sensei. Just take care of your friend," said Sae with a gentle smile and left the room.   
  
Free of distraction at last, Megumi turned her full attention on the man lying before her, and hardening her heart, began to remove the multiple bandages, exposing the ghastly wounds underneath.   
  
He was just a man, she told herself as she gently untied his obi and freed his arms from the yukata sleeves. Just another patient who needed her care. He wasn't the man who had saved her from the bastard Takeda Kanryu. He was merely a difficult case to be treated, an interesting medical puzzle to be solved. He wasn't the kind-hearted man with the soft voice who made her feel safe no matter how dire her circumstances....  
  
"Ken-san," she whispered, awed by the array of fresh wounds she had uncovered and grief-stricken at the latticework of old scars that already covered his body.  
  
She stared at the bloodied bandages, her vision blurring in liquid blossoms of white and red.   
  
"Megumi no baka." She wiped her eyes in disgust at herself, and with renewed determination, began a detached clinical survey of the wounds. No obvious injuries to his head. That was a relief. The stitches on his various wounds were neat and well done. Another relief. The bruises on his face were fading. The two slices on his neck were scabbing over, and despite their proximity to his jugulars, were no longer of immediate danger. The gash on the right shoulder was, likewise, healing. The burns on his chest were at risk for infection, and concerning, but they seemed to be all right for the moment. The long slash across his back, though dramatic in appearance, was also beginning to heal, if slowly. Her main concerns were with the deep bite on his neck and the stab wound in his side. The skin around these two areas was an angry red and hot to her touch.   
  
She heard someone enter the room behind her. She looked up in annoyance at the interruption. And blinked in surprise at the tall giant of a warrior who had come in with her requested supplies.   
  
He was not the type of person Megumi had expected Sae to send, and his confident manner somehow kept her from demanding any explanation of his presence as she had intended. Instead, she found herself watching in curious silence as he set the basin she'd requested filled with cooling boiled water and sterilized washcloths on the floor nearby. Along with those, he had brought a selection of sharp knives, needles, thread, and a small oil lamp. To her further surprise, he did not leave, but instead, sat down beside her and crossed his arms.  
  
"So. You are the woman doctor everyone's been talking about," he said, looking askance at her, frowning slightly.  
  
"Megumi. Takani Megumi," she said flatly. "And you are...?"  
  
"Hiko Seijuro," he said simply, staring straight forward. And left it at that.   
  
As if those two words were explanation enough. 


	2. Chapter 02 Reunion at the Shirobeko

Recovery: Chapter 2 - Reunion at the Shirobeko  
by Haku Baikou  
26.Feb.2003  
==============================  
"Hiko Seijuro?" she repeated.   
  
"Hiko Seijuro the Thirteenth," he clarified.   
  
The name meant absolutely nothing to Megumi. After a moment, the man seemed to finally realize that. His frown deepened.  
  
"I'm Kenshin's former master."  
  
"Oh, you were his teacher then."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And you're the one who prepared him for the battle with Shishio?"  
  
"Yes. Thanks to my training, his Hiten Mitsurugi technique is nearly as perfect as my own." Hiko crossed his arms and looked out the open window, slight hint of a smirk about his lips.  
  
Megumi arched an eyebrow, not quite believing the smug display. She had not known what to expect in Kenshin's teacher. Whatever kind of person she'd imagined, she had thought he'd be more...polite. She countered with a question.   
  
"I take it you're going to stay and help, Hiko-san?"  
  
"No, I'm going to stay and supervise."  
  
Arrogant bastard! Megumi closed her eyes briefly. Temper would be of no use now. On any other day, she would have flashed her most silvery Fox Lady smile and let loose a few venomous barbs. However, she was in no mood for games today. Her patient's condition was too urgent for immature taunting sessions.   
  
"Suit yourself," she shrugged, and trying her best to ignore the imposing man, continued with her work.   
  
She took the sterilized washcloths and carefully bathed Ken-san from head to toe, allowing his skin to dry from the late afternoon breeze rather than using a dry towel. The air would help cool his temperature more quickly. His fever was her greatest immediate concern.   
  
Megumi pulled one of her travel bags closer, and Hiko Seijuro watched with bemused interest as she set up her jars and containers. She had brought a small fortune of herbs and powders with her from Tokyo. Rokai for the burns on Ken-san's chest. Seiyo-otogiriso for pain. A multitude of other concoctions with exotic foreign names like man-tien-hsing to help with wound healing and daruharidra for fever. She took a small jug of one particular mix from her bags. It was the same precious salve she had given to Kaoru to give to Kenshin. It was a derivative of one of Gensai-sensei's formulas which she had supplemented with ingredients from her own family's recipes.   
  
She methodically worked the salve into Ken-san's wounds. Throughout her ministrations, the rurouni's face remained distressingly unreactive. Not a flinch, not a flicker of movement. Even when she cleaned the bite marks and squeezed pus from them, Ken-san was too far gone to feel anything. The more she worked, the more worried she became.   
  
"He's too still, isn't he," Hiko said, startling her out of her grim thoughts. The swordsman's concerns apparently mirrored her own.   
  
"Yes, he is," she agreed.  
  
"What are you doing now?" he asked when she took a small knife and began cutting the stitches in Ken-san's side.  
  
"I'm opening this up," she answered him, glad to answer an academic question, to have something to take her mind off the despair that gnawed at the corners of her mind. "There's a pocket of infection under the surface that has to be let out. It can't heal well otherwise."  
  
"But the wound's already started to heal."  
  
"Yes, at the surface, but underneath it's not. Trust me, I've seen it happen all too often. The infection festers under here, see? And then it spreads to the blood. We can't have that happen, so I'm going to cut the wound open again."  
  
"You're... you're what?"  
  
In response, Megumi slid the small knife down the line of the wound, re-opening it. A small river of pus and blood gushed from the opening into a small bowl she held underneath. When the flow stopped, she handed the bowl over to the swordsman who sat looking at it, his face tinged slightly green. It was Megumi's turn to smirk. All too often she'd seen battle-hardened warriors cringe at the site of infected wounds. Fresh blood they could handle. A bowl of pus, they could not.  
  
"I think I'd better leave the wound open. Let it heal from the bottom on up so no more pockets of infection form," she continued. She took one of the sterilized cloths and dipped it in water and one of her salves. She then pressed it against the open wound in Ken-san's side.  
  
"Hiko-san, would you mind lending a hand, please?" she asked, glad to see that the swordsman had lost some of his haughty coldness and was now freely helping her as he supported Ken-san's head and lifted him by the shoulders. Megumi was then able to wrap clean bandages around Ken-san's waist. She noted that despite his gruff manners, Hiko moved very gently when handling Ken-san, taking care not to touch the rurouni's wounds.  
  
"I must admit, woman," said Hiko thoughtfully as they worked, "You're a far more competent a physician than you look."  
  
Megumi bit her lip and decided to take his statement as a sincere compliment. "Thank you."  
  
He looked out the window. "The sun is setting. Your friends will be back soon."  
  
He seemed a completely different person than the man she'd just met an hour ago. Megumi took a chance and decided to ask a slightly more personal question.   
  
"Why, are you really here, Hiko-san? Why--if you don't mind me asking--aren't you helping with repairs at the Aoyia like the others?"   
  
He narrowed his eyes, as if considering whether or not to answer her. Megumi had not thought it a particularly rude question, but this man seemed to be exceptionally careful in considering how much information he should share. His unwillingness to divulge was so very much like a certain red head she knew.... Or was it the other way around, considering who was the teacher, and who was the pupil.   
  
Megumi finished the last of Ken-san's bandages, and settled the yukata around his shoulders. Hiko lowered the small rurouni back down on the futon. The large man stared down at Kenshin for a long time, unspeaking as Megumi began to clean up her work area.   
  
"Because I have more reason to worry," he said. "Kenshin was eight years-old when I found him." Hiko spoke slowly, as if each word were an effort. "But in all the ways that matter, I consider him ... my son."  
  
Megumi stopped what she was doing. This was not the kind of answer she'd expected. She wasn't sure where it was leading, but Megumi had the feeling she was witnessing a rare occurrence. If Kenshin truly had learned some of his traits from this Hiko-san, then she suspected this man would keep his thoughts close to himself the way Ken-san often did. Megumi was willing to bet Hiko rarely confided in others as he was doing now. Megumi didn't know why he chose to talk to her, of all people, but she kept silent, not wanting to interrupt the moment.   
  
"I know Death, Megumi-sensei," he said matter of factly. "I'm familiar with it in all its forms. I know when it's near, when it threatens. I see its shadow over the face of my apprentice, and the sight chills my blood."  
  
The cadence of his voice had changed completely, thought Megumi. And she suddenly drew in a breath as she came to an understanding about Hiko Seijuro the Thirteenth.   
  
Arrogance, to this man, was what a rurouni's silly antics were to Kenshin. Hiko's arrogance was a shield, a front to present to the rest of the world, a wall to hide a deeper pain.   
  
"Okina knows what I speak of," he continued. "So does Shinomori, to a degree. But the young ones, innocents who barely remember the Bakumatsu. They have no idea. They look at my apprentice with idealistic hope, secure in the knowledge that he's the strongest, that he's invincible. They truly believe that his recovery is merely a matter of time, and that he'll simply get better if given the opportunity to rest."   
  
He frowned, and absently brushed at a stray strand of Kenshin's hair.   
  
"Baka deshi...." His soft tone belied the meaning of those words. "...A father ought never bury his son, Megumi-sensei. It should be the other way around."  
  
He blinked, as if suddenly realizing he's spoken too much. He cleared his throat.   
  
A hint of the smug smile returned. "But now that I've seen you work, Megumi-sensei, I think I can feel a bit of that idealistic hope myself."  
  
"But I don't know if I'll succeed," admitted Megumi.  
  
"You will."  
  
"How can you know?"  
  
"Because I, Hiko Seijuro the Thirteenth, have said so," he said simply. "I'm a master at judging talent. And you, I have decided, have more than an average amount of it."   
  
"Oh, is that so?" she said, adopting a lighter tone herself, consciously willing hope into her own spirit.  
  
"I'm never wrong." He said it deadpan.   
  
Megumi couldn't help chuckling.   
  
And stopped suddenly, at a new sound she heard from down the street. Megumi hurried to the window and looked down at the market below.   
  
The sudden swell of emotion within her caught her off guard even though she'd expected to feel joy. Perhaps it was the unusual sensation of looking down at the world from the height of a second story window. Or perhaps not. Truth was, she'd missed them all in the past few weeks, not just Kens-san.   
  
Her vision blurred as she saw the familiar figures coming down the street. Rooster head. Ponytail with indigo ribbon. And yes, even the short spiky haired boy amid the group of strangers who she assumed were the members of the Oniwabanshu.   
  
"We may as well go downstairs," Hiko said, placid arrogant expression back in place. "My baka deshi isn't going anywhere, and you've done all you can for him today."  
  
Megumi nodded and headed down the stairs. Sae was already opening the front door as Megumi made it to the bottom of the steps. Her friends froze in the doorway for a moment when they saw her. And then, as if floodgates had been let open....  
  
"Megumi! You're here!" yelled Yahiko, with the lack of inhibition typical for his age. He flung himself at her and threw his small arms about her waist. She laughed, the tears threatening to overwhelm her again as she hugged the boy tightly back. She turned at a touch on her arm and saw Kaoru, eyes wide, grinning, and likewise crying. And finally, she was trapped in a rough one-armed embrace as Sagara Sanosuke, the big wonderful idiot, growled an enthusiastic "Fox Lady!" and squeezed, crushing her against the other two.   
  
She hadn't laughed like this in a long time. Not since they'd all left her those many weeks ago.   
  
And as she glanced upstairs to the door of the room where Kenshin slept, she heard Hiko's words echoing in her head once more: "They look at my apprentice with idealistic hope, secure in the knowledge that he's the strongest, that he's invincible."  
  
Surrounded by her friends, and with Hiko's belief in her abilities... Maybe Takani Megumi could share in that hope for the rurouni. Yes, maybe she could believe in him too. 


	3. Chapter 03 White Plum & Chilled Sake

Warning: Possible mild spoilers for OVA 1 in this chapter. Events are hinted at but never explicitly stated.  
RECOVERY: Chapter 3 - White Plum & Chilled Sake  
By Haku Baikou  
01.Mar.2003  
==============================  
His hallucinations began two days later.   
  
Megumi was having lunch with Okina when Sae came running downstairs, eyes big as saucers and completely out of breath. Megumi's heart nearly stopped when she saw the normally proper Sae barreling down the stairs, hysterically shouting her name. She thought for sure that Kenshin was dead.   
  
She nearly dropped her bowl in relief as Sae reported between breaths that Kenshin was awake, delirious, and attempting to pull off his bandages. The three of them hurried upstairs to find the rurouni halfway off the futon, in a tangled heap beneath the covers. He was desperately crying out a name, over and over again.   
  
"Tomoe!"  
  
Megumi didn't have time to wonder who Tomoe was. Kenshin was busy ripping at his bandages, causing fresh blood to flow from a number of wounds.   
  
"Sae, stay back," Okina warned. Sae looked like she was about to faint. "Megumi, can you get Himura's legs? I'll get his shoulders."  
  
Megumi nodded, and together, she and Okina carefully approached the distraught redhead. He fought them as they got him back on the futon. He was too weak to put up much of a struggle, but it was still a long time in moving him. He was wounded in so many places it was difficult to get a good handhold without hurting him further. But they finally settled him in, and his struggles subsided as fatigue quickly overcame him.   
  
Okina then escorted a shaky Sae downstairs, leaving Megumi alone with the injured swordsman. Megumi sat wearily beside her friend, feeling more than a little shaky herself. Despite a lifetime of dealing with wounded patients, it was a different matter--quite unsettling, really--to see someone dear to her own heart struggling incoherently amid smears of his own blood.   
  
Kenshin lay quietly, his violet gaze directed towards unknown distances, silently reliving horrors which Megumi could only guess at. He was very still, but by no means at peace, she observed worriedly. Watching the distressed rurouni, with his rapid shallow breathing and fluttering pulse at his throat, she was sure he'd be screaming at the top of his lungs if his exhausted body would allow such an effort.   
  
"Ken-san?" she called softly. Her touch was gentle, but he flinched as if she'd struck him. She called his name again, but it was no good. He was a world away.  
  
"Ken-san, what are you seeing?" she wondered, despairing at her inability to help. There was nothing in her repertoire for this. No medicine to take away this kind of pain. Megumi drew her legs up and rested her forehead on her knees. She was tired. Her head ached. She'd been at his side for days, insisting on taking longer shifts than anyone else watching over him. But now that he was finally awake, he was suffering, and there wasn't a damned thing all her medical training could do in this situation. She couldn't even give him something to make him comfortable, considering sedatives and pain medications had a tendency to worsen the hallucinations, not take them away. She could continue treating his wounds, continue fighting his fever. But that took time. And in the meanwhile, all she could do was watch him and do nothing else, helpless, despite all her knowledge, as any of the others.   
  
"Why did you go?" The words were a faint rasp, barely audible, but even so, the agony they conveyed was heartbreaking.   
  
She looked up quickly. "I'm still here, Ken-san. I haven't gone."  
  
She knew he wasn't talking to her at all.   
  
"I have to find her," he whispered, and began once again to reach for the bandages around his throat.  
  
Megumi grabbed him by the wrists. "Ken-san, don't! Those are there to help you. They won't choke you, I promise."  
  
"Have to find her!" His voice took on a new edge of urgency, and although he couldn't break Megumi's hold, his fingers opened and closed spasmodically as he fought her grip.   
  
"Who?" she asked. "Is it Tomoe? Are you trying to find Tomoe?"  
  
A slight commotion on the stairs took her attention from the rurouni a moment as Megumi heard Hiko's deep voice talking in hushed tones with Okina. The tall warrior entered the room soon after, scowling as Okina came and stood by the doorway, explaining what had happened earlier.   
  
"Do you know who this Tomoe is?" asked Megumi.   
  
"Perhaps the Oniwabanshu could be of help in locating her," offered Okina.   
  
Hiko shook his head, silent for a moment. "I have no idea who he's talking about. But if you could get what I asked for, Okina-san, that might help."  
  
"I'll see what we can do," said Okina.   
  
"And have someone send for Kaoru," added Megumi. "I think she needs to be here."   
  
She hated having to say it, but it was true. As much as she disliked the thought, she knew that the girl's presence would have a calming effect on Ken-san. Jealousy was not an appropriate emotion to be feeling at a time like this, she told herself. At least, that's what her brain said. Her heart, on the other hand, strongly objected.   
  
Okina nodded and quickly left. Hiko remained standing, staring down at the rurouni with a mix of emotions that Megumi could not decipher.   
  
"Who is Tomoe?" she asked.   
  
Hiko's eyebrows lifted as he turned to Megumi. He towered above her as he looked her straight in the eye, and without flinching, said, "I have no idea."  
  
"Why don't I believe you?" said Megumi quietly.   
  
Hiko's gaze did not falter. A hint of a humorless smile crept at the corner of his mouth, but he said nothing.  
  
"Someone he loves, perhaps?" ventured Megumi, her heart pounding.   
  
Could Ken-san's heart have belonged to someone else all this time? He never made any mention of this Tomoe woman. But then again, Ken-san almost never mentioned anything about his past. Megumi knew it was low of her to be feeling such jealousy at the moment, but she couldn't help herself. And oddly enough, she found herself suddenly feeling sorry for Kaoru. She blinked. Now this was an unexpected feeling, this sudden concern for her chief rival's mental well-being.   
  
Hiko remained infuriatingly silent.   
  
The three of them stayed as they were for several minutes more, Kenshin struggling occasionally as Megumi still held his wrists, Hiko watching impassively the whole while. The waiting became awkward.   
  
Megumi heaved an inward sigh of relief as one of the Shirobeko waitresses arrived soon after, her cheeks flush and hair in disarray. She handed Hiko a small black lacquer vial, then shyly ducked away. He in turn tossed it casually to Megumi.  
  
"What is this?" Megumi looked at the small bottle curiously, then carefully opened it. "Perfume?" she said in surprise as she dabbed a small amount on her fingers.   
  
"Perfume," he agreed cordially.   
  
It was a lovely scent, but.... "I don't understand how--"  
  
"Haku baikou," came a whisper from where Ken-san lay. The tone of his voice was odd.   
  
Megumi looked over to the rurouni and saw that Kenshin's eyes were half-lidded, his hands relaxed. His breathing began to ease, and he looked calmer of a sudden, apparently soothed by the white plum fragrance she held in her hand.   
  
"Nani?" She blinked in surprise. It was a pleasant enough scent, but the miraculous change in the rurouni seemed a bit disproportional considering the simple nature of the remedy. She looked in disbelief at Hiko.   
  
"You knew this would happen?"  
  
His reply was typically sardonic. "As I've said. Hiko Seijuro is never wrong."  
  
"I don't suppose you'd care to explain?" She asked, knowing full well he would not.  
  
He threw her a haughty glance and turned to leave. "I'm going downstairs for some sake."   
  
He paused before he walked out the door. "You may join me if you like."  
  
A disgruntled Megumi shook her head at the retreating figure of Ken-san's master. The man was impossible, she thought, as she quickly surveyed Ken-san's bandages and fixed some of the ones that he had torn. She worked quickly, but by the time she finished, Ken-san was out again, asleep, and looked for the most part comfortable. She shook her head, once again marveling at how effective the perfume had been. And now that Kaoru was no doubtedly on her way here, Megumi felt assured that Ken-san would be all right for the rest of the day as well.   
  
As much as she wanted to throttle Hiko for not telling her his secrets, she was grateful to the man for his help.   
  
Maybe, she thought, if he drank enough sake, his tongue would loosen and she could weasel the story out of him. She smiled to herself, her impish Fox Lady instincts surfacing now that Kenshin was no longer in danger. Cheered by that prospect, Megumi made her way downstairs to the Shirobeko dining room and found Hiko in one of the booths. He noted her arrival with a slight nod, and without preamble, poured her some chilled sake and handed her a cup.   
  
It was a little early in the day to be drinking sake for Megumi's taste, but she accepted his offer and took a seat opposite him at the low table.   
  
Megumi smiled when she tasted the beverage.   
  
No big surprise, she thought to herself: Hiko liked his sake dry.  
  
==============================  
Next: Fireflies & Streetfighters 


	4. Chapter 04 Fireflies & Street Fighters

RECOVERY: Chapter 4 - Fireflies & Street Fighters  
By Haku Baikou  
01.Mar.2003  
==============================  
  
Megumi cut strips of cloth by the dim light of a lone oil lamp in Kenshin's room. She worked quietly, making new bandages for the rurouni's wounds. She would boil these strips once she was done to sterilize them. She had insisted on boiling all water and bandages used to clean his wounds. It was a decided inconvenience, but she had never cut corners professionally in her life, and she surely wasn't going to start now. Not with this particular patient.   
  
It was a quiet evening, unusually cool for this time of year. The nearby window was open, and Megumi breathed in the night air, feeling rested and at peace for the first time in weeks. She'd taken a much needed nap after drinking sake with Hiko. Her efforts at extracting information from him had been woefully unsuccessful. Instead, she had babbled on about her own childhood and past woes while he sat quietly and listened, commenting briefly when appropriate. Megumi cringed at the thought of that arrogant man knowing some secrets that she really ought not to have told him. But she trusted that he would be as reticent with her secrets as he was with everything else. And truly, he was decent enough company when he was tipsy. Arrogant still, but by no means unpleasant.   
  
Kaoru was sitting next to Kenshin now, talking steadily in hushed tones. The girl had been doing so for hours, stopping only occasionally to sip some warm tea to soothe her throat and keep her voice from becoming hoarse. Megumi had to admit: the girl's presence was definitely helpful now that Ken-san was awake and could hear a friendly voice. The rurouni had been quiet since Kaoru had arrived, though his eyes retained their far-off look, and he didn't seem to be consciously aware of her presence beside him. Still, Kenshin was calm, at least, and had finally allowed Megumi and Hiko to change his dressings without any resistance as long as Kaoru continued to talk. The girl had even managed to get Kenshin to drink some tea. For once, he hadn't choked on the liquid as he'd done in the past when Megumi and Sae had had no choice but to force the fluid down his throat.   
  
To Megumi's relief, Ken-san had made no more mention of the name Tomoe, nor had he had any repeated displays of the worrisome agitation from earlier in the afternoon. He'd merely murmured various cryptic remarks that, taken out of context, didn't always make sense. Some of them, Megumi and Kaoru had been able to figure out. He'd spoken of doing laundry at one point, and the two women, who had been on edge for so long, had burst into tired giggles at the oddity of seeing the famed battousai murmuring about how clean and white the sheets were. Other ramblings--such as his insistences that daikon radishes really weren't necessary--made no sense to the two women whatsoever.   
  
Listening to the girl talk now, Megumi grudgingly admitted to herself that even she was calmed by Kaoru's steady stream of stories. And she was impressed, also, that Kaoru had retained her calm, had not fallen apart at the seams as she'd done so when Ken-san first left for Kyoto. Kaoru had changed in these last few weeks, Megumi noted. She was still the boisterous sweaty little tomboy. That would probably always be the case. But there was something else in the girl's eyes now, a calm or maturity that hadn't been there before. Megumi couldn't put her finger on the exact difference, and she didn't know what had happened to the girl to make her this way, but Kaoru had grown since she'd come to Kyoto. She still wasn't a woman in Megumi's eyes, but she'd taken an important step closer to becoming one.  
  
The girl was currently talking about the morning after she'd first met the rurouni, how she had awakened to the smell of miso soup and was then served rice balls shaped into ridiculous little rodent creatures. Megumi couldn't help smiling as she pictured Ayame and Suzume presenting Kaoru with mouse-shaped rice balls with raisins for eyes. Kaoru grinned. "Of course, they tasted much better than any rice balls I ever made, despite the shape. I almost didn't have the heart to eat them. They looked so adorable."  
  
Megumi laughed. "Ayame and Suzume never fail to bring out Ken-san's silly streak. I wish I'd been there to see that."  
  
And at that, Megumi felt suddenly sad. She didn't know why. Perhaps she felt like she had missed out on some of Ken-san's happiest carefree moments. Perhaps it was because her own first meeting with Ken-san had been of a much darker nature, and that it had taken him some time to be comfortable enough around her to joke around and be silly with her. Or maybe it was just the old jealousy she felt whenever Kaoru was around, the bitterness in knowing that the fates had sided with the girl. Kaoru had met Kenshin first. Had won over his heart long before Megumi had ever had her chance....  
  
"Megumi?"   
  
She made an effort to smile, feeling genuine warmth towards the girl despite the pain Kaoru caused her whenever she was near. "Daijoubu." And at Kaoru's worried look, "Really, I'm fine. I think I had a bit too much sake this afternoon. Hiko can drink like a fish."  
  
Kaoru smiled, about to say something when the rurouni beside her stirred briefly, mumbling and turning his fevered gaze upon the oil lamp, seemingly fascinated by its light. He reached for it, but was fortunately too far away to touch it and burn himself. Kaoru laid her hand lightly upon his arm, frowning slightly as she pushed it gently down. "That's just the oil lamp, Kenshin. It's all ri-"  
  
"There are beautiful fireflies," Kenshin murmured.  
  
Kaoru froze.  
  
It was Megumi's turn to look at her friend in uncomprehending concern.  
  
"Sessha wa rurouni," Kenshin continued, his voice barely audible. "Time to wander again."   
  
It must have been what he said to Kaoru the night he left for Kyoto. Kaoru sat tensed, her back straight, her eyes fixed on Kenshin. Megumi expected to see tears in the girl's eyes, but there were none. Instead, she could see moisture glistening in the eyes of the rurouni as he continued to stare, transfixed by the light. A small objective corner of Megumi's mind noted that she had never seen Kenshin cry before.  
  
Kaoru stood up suddenly. "There's not enough air in here," she said breathlessly as she quickly left the room. Megumi stared dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events. She sat for a moment, absorbing the scene she had just witnessed. And then, when her brain finally began working again, she hurried down the stairs and out the front door, calling Kaoru's name. But the girl was far faster than Megumi could ever be. Kaoru was nowhere to be found.   
  
"I don't think she wanted to be followed," came a voice from behind her.   
  
She turned to find Sanosuke seated on the front porch of the Shirobeko, leaning against a post and chewing thoughtfully on a leftover fishbone from dinner.   
  
"Baka, we can't just let her wander off into the night alone."  
  
"Jou-chan can take care of herself," he said quietly. "And she's not alone. Oumime was on the roof and sneaked off after her. She'll make sure jou-chan doesn't get into any trouble."  
  
Oumime. It took a moment for the unfamiliar name to register. One of the Oniwabanshu women, Megumi remembered. The tall one with the long hair.   
  
"What was Oumime doing out on the roof?"  
  
"Guarding Kenshin's room," said Sano. He looked at her. "Didn't you know? The Oniwabanshu have been doing that since the day after Kenshin's fight."  
  
Megumi opened her mouth, couldn't say a word, then closed it. No, she had not known.   
  
"Anyway, Masukami's taking Oumime's place, so don't worry. Kenshin will be safe as well."  
  
She didn't know what to say. All this time, she'd been so focused on her own job, she hadn't noticed that others were watching after Ken-san in their own way. She sat down heavily next to Sanosuke before her knees gave out on her. It had been a rather stressful day.   
  
She looked up towards the roof and saw the small Oniwabanshu woman seated on the roof near Ken-san's room. They had been watching. All this time.... She felt a new appreciation for the Oniwabanshu, an appreciation that was not easily won from her considering her previous painful history with their group. But these folks with Okina and Misao. They were good people. Megumi hung her head in shame for underestimating them.  
  
It was then that she noticed Sano was favoring his injured hand more so than usual.   
  
"Sanosuke, did you hurt yourself again?"  
  
He grinned sheepishly. "Weasel Girl accidentally hit me with a board she was carrying. She had it in her arms like so, and when she turned around with it...Heh, I was in the way."  
  
"Oh no," she sighed. "That's the second time in three days."  
  
He shrugged. "You shoulda been there. I let loose a string of cuss words that had her ears red and her jaw on the floor." He laughed gruffly, eyes twinkling with mischief in the roguish way only Sanosuke's eyes could.   
  
"Let me take a look at it."  
  
"Iya, you have more important things to do. And it's not that bad."  
  
She took his hand in hers and examined it anyway. He was right, it seemed. The new damage wasn't as bad as she'd feared. But still, the careless idiot....  
  
"Sanosuke, you can't keep hurting your hand like this. You have to rest it. In fact, you shouldn't be out at the Aoiya at all with this. There's too much risk of injuring it again."  
  
"But I have to be there. The po--" He slammed his mouth shut, eyes widening slightly.   
  
"The 'puh'?" She looked at him, her eyes narrowing. "What aren't you telling me?"  
  
"Baka," he muttered to himself, avoiding eye contact. "Promise you won't tell jou-chan. She's got enough worries."  
  
"Won't tell her what? Sanosuke!" she said, exasperated.   
  
He shrugged. "The police came by the Aoiya for a short visit today. They were worried about us all being there since some of Shishio's followers are still at large."  
  
"What? I thought they'd caught them all."  
  
"Most, but not all." He scratched his head absently. "I guess the police are worried some of them may be carrying a bit of a grudge. Considering Kenshin fried their beloved leader. We were told to keep an eye out, is all. No specific dangers that they know of. So I gotta be there. In case anything does happen."  
  
It was sobering news. She looked up towards the roof again. "Do you think Ken-san's in danger here?"   
  
"Doubt it," he smiled. "How would any folks in Kyoto know of our connections to the Shirobeko? Way Okina saw it, it's safer here than at the Aoiya right now. Besides," he smacked his fist against his hand in enthusiasm, then paled, when the motion must've sent shockwaves of pain up his right arm. (Baka, thought Megumi.) "Besides," he continued more carefully, "We can always fight 'em off. Don't worry. Kenshin's safe. We won't let anything happen."  
  
"Sanosuke, baka, if you keep fighting, and your hand will never heal."  
  
"Hmph, I'd cut my hand off if it would guarantee Kenshin's well-being." Sagara looked at her, eyes intent. "I'd do that for any of you, you know," added the ex-street fighter with that half-crazed look in his eye that meant he was utterly serious.   
  
She had to admire the idiot for his loyalty. First to that Captain Sagara of his, now to Kenshin, and finally even to Saitoh, of all people. And Sanosuke hadn't even liked Saitoh. But once a person had Sanosuke as an ally, that person would have a defender for life. The man was like that.  
  
"I know," she said, smiling at him in a rare display of genuine affection for the dolt.  
  
He blinked in mild surprise, apparently expecting her to say something snide about how great an idiot he was. He leaned against the post again, looking up at the moon, sighing. In an oddly tender mood, Megumi leaned lightly against him, resting her head on his shoulder. A small part of her mind was shocked, telling herself that, yes, indeed, she'd had a bit too much sake that afternoon. The other part ignored her and simply sat, enjoying the warm presence of a friend.  
  
Hesitantly: "Megumi."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
Gruffly: "Arigatou."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For taking care of Kenshin. For taking care of me." He hesitated a moment. "For being kind to jou-chan when it must hurt you seeing her with Kenshin all the time."  
  
She looked up at him in muted surprise, but he was studiously avoiding her gaze. Megumi swallowed, suddenly feeling a pained tightness in her throat at Sanosuke's surprising sensitivity. The big idiot was more observant than she gave him credit for. Sano shifted against her and looked at her finally. Megumi didn't know what he saw in her eyes, but whatever it was, he suddenly blushed and cleared his throat.  
  
"Well, I ought to be going" he said airily.  
  
"Going where?"  
  
"Kurojou and Shirojou are meeting some friends for another game of dice tonight." He laughed and dusted off his pants as he got up. "They're amateurs, all of them. Completely naïve when it comes to gambling. Finally, a group of guys with worse luck than myself. I made a killing offa them yesterday night."  
  
He looked at her and grinned, the fishbone dangling crookedly from his teeth. "We're all going to be fine, Megumi-sensei. Get some rest. Your fox ears are looking a bit worn."   
  
Before she could work up a proper indignant response, he waved his hand and with a casual "ja ne", headed off at a leisurely pace.   
  
"Oyasumi nasai... baka," she said quietly. And smiled at the tall figure walking easily down the road with his jacket and red headband flapping lazily in the breeze.  
  
==============================  
To be continued....  
  
Definitions:   
Daijoubu - I'm all right.  
Iya - No.  
Jou-chan - Little Missy.  
Oyasumi nasai - Good night.  
Sessha wa rurouni - I am a wanderer. (Or more accurately, "This unworthy one is a wanderer.") 


	5. Chapter 05 A Circuitous Route

Warning: This chapter contains some mild violence and strong language.  
RECOVERY: Chapter 5 - A Circuitous Route  
By Haku Baikou  
08.Mar.2003  
==============================  
  
The repairs at the Aoiya were progressing well, Megumi decided, as she caught her first glimpse of the place since her arrival in Kyoto. The noon sun shone brightly through the gauze curtains of the carriage causing her to squint and shade her eyes with her hand. She was happy. After being closeted off in her work, first at Dr. Gensai's clinic in Tokyo and more recently at the Shirobeko, it was a nice change of pace to have some free time and be truly out on the town for the first time in months.  
  
The young police officer seated across from her opened the carriage door and hopped down, eagerly extending his hand to help her out. She rewarded him with a bright smile as she stepped out of the carriage. She'd almost forgotten that most men tended to trip over themselves in petty attempts to impress her. It was nice to know that she still had it in her. Even if the men closest to her (hmph, the fools) never seemed to notice her natural beauty, it was good to know that she could still sparkle if she made the slightest effort, and that other men, normal men, could at least appreciate it. Aah, to dream again. She was being silly, and she didn't care. It was nice to be silly for a change.   
  
She breathed deeply, enjoying the sounds and scents of the city. Standing in the dusty road before the Aoyia, she felt wondrously alive, almost as she had in her young and carefree days, before the destruction of her family, before her life had fallen apart. The dark memories were easily brushed aside this sunny day as she turned around and had her first good look at the building while waiting for the young officer behind her to bring out the rather large and weighty lunch basket she'd brought for her friends.   
  
"Hey, Megu--All right! Food!" whooped an enthusiastic Yahiko, as he slid down the roof, deftly catching the edge with his hands, and swinging briefly before landing on his feet. The boy scampered over, watching intently as the officer set the basket down on the porch. "What did you bring?"  
  
"A little bit of everything," said Megumi cheerily.   
  
"Oi! I thought I smelled food out there!" said Sanosuke, his spiky head popping out from a hole in the rooftop. "Someone get the kid away from there before he eats everything."   
  
Megumi turned and gave the young police officer another smile and a friendly "arigatou" as he blushed and retreated quickly back into the carriage. He gave a brief wave as the carriage pulled away.   
  
"How come they never offer me such rides?" asked Makimachi Misao as she walked over to inspect the contents of the basket.  
  
"It's 'cause you're not pretty enough," said Yahiko casually, face already half stuffed with a pork bun. He grunted as Misao growled and swatted his head, then continued eating, his pace undiminished.  
  
Yahiko and Misao. They were still children, thought Megumi. They reverted to their normal selves when away from the Shirobeko. Well, she couldn't blame them for their energy and enthusiasm. Not on such a beautiful day. And she was, to a point, impressed with their efforts to be on their best behavior when they were near Kenshin's room at the Shirobeko. They'd all taken pains to speak in soft tones and tread quietly whenever they were there in an effort not to disturb the sleeping rurouni. It was getting more and more difficult for them to do, though, Megumi knew. And when they were here at the Aoiya, away from the sick room and out in the sunshine, their rowdy natures resurfaced with a vengeance. Megumi rolled her eyes, amused. They tried, at least. She really couldn't fault them for slipping now.   
  
"Thank you for bringing lunch over," said Kaoru as she walked out of the Aoyia, untying the sleeves of her kimono.   
  
Megumi searched the girl's face for any signs of distress. Kaoru looked a little tired today, but otherwise seemed no worse for the wear. Megumi hadn't seen Kaoru since she'd run off last night. The girl must have stayed out fairly late since Megumi had gone to bed and never heard her come back in.   
  
Kaoru noted her questing glance and looked down, embarrassed. "Daijoubu, Megumi-san," she said softly so that only Megumi could hear. "I was a fool last night. I don't know what came over me."  
  
"You had us worried," said Megumi. "Where did you go?"  
  
"Not far. Just down to the riverside," replied the girl. She looked up at Megumi. "I know it was only a memory. He was just reliving the past...." She shook her head. "The day he left Tokyo.... It wasn't the very worst day of my life, Megumi-san. But it was up there. It was definitely up there. And I couldn't stay in that room. I didn't want Kenshin to see me fall to pieces. Not when he needs me to be strong for him."  
  
Megumi shrugged, having nothing to say to that.   
  
"How is he today?" asked the girl.  
  
"Still confused, but doing better, I think. Your company seemed to help," she offered, her small attempt to boost the girl's spirits.   
  
Kaoru's large blue eyes brightened. "I'll go back early today, then. Help you with his dressing changes, if that's all right."  
  
"Hey, Megumi!" called Yahiko, breaking into their conversation. The boy had little bits of ohagi on his face and was munching away happily on more. "You want a tour of the place?"  
  
Megumi laughed at the boy's enthusiasm and nodded. She allowed herself to be ushered from room to room by the boy, past Oniwabanshu members busy at various tasks. The progress really was quite impressive considering the extent of the damage, from what she was told. She hadn't seen what the place looked like initially, but Yahiko had insisted it had been pretty much flattened by the giant, Fuji. She had had difficulty imagining someone that large, and had at first been skeptical of Yahiko's descriptions, suspecting the boy guilty of gross exaggeration. But when the Oniwabanshu members' descriptions matched that of the boy's, she began to believe otherwise.   
  
She sat down after the tour and finally had some lunch herself. Sae's cooking really was phenomenal, no surprise considering the talents of her twin sister back home. Megumi rested contentedly after her meal, enjoying the warm feeling of being surrounded by friends, the satisfying feeling of having a belly full of good food on a warm summer's day.  
  
She had to get up eventually, though. As much as she would've liked to stay forever, she had things to do. She decided she'd walk back to the Shirobeko rather than wait for the police officer to come back. It was too lovely a day to be sitting confined in a carriage. She wanted the feel of the sun in her hair.  
  
"I'll come with you," Sanosuke offered when she'd announced she'd be walking back. Yahiko made some snide comment about the Rooster Head shirking his duties, but Sanosuke ignored the boy's taunts and said that Megumi had ordered him to rest. He had to if his hand was ever to recover.  
  
Megumi smirked. Yes, she had said something to that effect, she had to admit, but she suspected Yahiko was right. The big idiot probably just wanted a break from work.  
  
She allowed him to lead the way in this unfamiliar city, trusting--hoping--that he knew how to get them back to Sae's. They walked in silence for a long time, Sanosuke with his hands in his pockets, and Megumi quietly people-watching. It was the way they'd always walked, a habit developed from the days when Sanosuke had accompanied Megumi and Dr. Gensai's granddaughters home from the dojo. It was a comfortable silence, both of them enjoying each other's company far more on these quiet walks when they didn't have to speak, when they didn't end up annoying or insulting one another by saying the wrong thing.  
  
"There's a short cut this way," Sanosuke said suddenly, turning into an alleyway that looked suspiciously deserted for this busy time of day.  
  
"Are you sure?" she asked, disbelieving. "You're just going to get us lost again."  
  
"Trust me." His grin had a feral edge to it which unsettled Megumi's nerves. He wrapped his good arm around her shoulders, and Megumi was just about to protest the rudely familiar act when he whispered into her ear, "There's someone following us. On the rooftops."  
  
Her heart skipped a beat. She fought the urge to look up, and instead, went along with Sanosuke's act.   
  
"Oh ho ho ho," she giggled loudly, playing the flirt. "Really? Are you sure?"  
  
"Absolutely!" he said with mock hilarity, as Megumi's blood ran cold at the thought.  
  
Someone was following them. Who? Followers of Shishio, came the thought springing immediately to mind. But could they be sure? Perhaps it was just a common thief or bandit. Or perhaps it was a member of the Oniwabanshu, keeping watch over them. Megumi highly doubted the latter. Whoever it was, Sanosuke seemed to feel threatened, and as moronic as he could be in other matters, Megumi trusted his fighter's instincts implicitly.   
  
She carefully looked upwards, and suppressed a gasp as she saw a black-clad figure traveling silently on the roof tiles. He kept his head low and was barely visible. Megumi doubted she would have ever noticed if Sanosuke hadn't said something.   
  
"Oh ho ho, and what are you going to do?" she said, ruffling his hair.  
  
He feigned a kiss on her cheek and whispered, "Will you be all right if I go after him? I'm pretty sure he's alone."  
  
She nodded and suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. "Sanosuke, I can't find my bracelet!" she pouted loudly. "I must've dropped it somewhere. Can we go back and look for it?"  
  
"You're kidding," he said with impressive irritation. "You're not kidding? Oh hell, wait here."  
  
Sanosuke pressed something into Megumi's hand and turned as if to look for her lost trinket. He ducked under the awning of a nearby store, making himself invisible to whoever was up there. He headed toward a stack of straw baskets, and then he was off, climbing one-handed up the stack towards the roof, giving chase as quickly as he could with one arm out of commission.   
  
Megumi looked down at her hand and gasped when she saw that the object he had slipped her was a small blade. Since when did Sagara Sanosuke start carrying hidden blades on his person? It wasn't the man's style as far as she knew.   
  
She looked up at the rooftops, hearing the sound of footsteps, but unable to tell where they were coming from. She felt horribly exposed, unable to see anything. She heard a startled yell, then the scuffling sounds of a brief struggle. Sanosuke must have caught up with the man. She hoped he'd be able to fight well enough one-handed.   
  
Then suddenly, they fell without warning, the two men tumbling in a jumbled heap off the ledge behind her. Megumi cried out in spite of herself, and jumped to the side to avoid being crushed. They landed with a heavy thud. Sanosuke gasped, cradling his right hand tightly towards himself. The other man, realizing his enemy's weakness, grinned suddenly and kicked the younger man in his injured hand. Sanosuke screamed, collapsing in a heap.  
  
The man in black moved quickly, far too quickly. Megumi barely had time to register what had happened, when she suddenly found herself held hostage by the man, his arm around her neck, and a knife point digging into her throat.  
  
"Stay back," he hissed, as Sanosuke, who had been getting to his feet, suddenly stopped moving. The man backed away from the street fighter, dragging Megumi along with him. Sanosuke watched silently, his eyes burning with anger, unable to do anything lest the man harm her.  
  
Megumi's heart raced wildly as she slowly unsheathed the blade Sanosuke had given her. Sanosuke's eyes widened a bit, but he gave no sign otherwise. He kept his eyes locked on the man, making sure the attacker would not look down and suddenly see what Megumi was up to. She raised her arm, ready to plunge the blade....  
  
And froze in bitter despair, unable to use the weapon.   
  
Takani Megumi was a healer, not a fighter. She wouldn't--couldn't--use the blade to harm another. Only once in her life had she ever raised a weapon with the intent to attack, and that one time had been under extreme circumstances at a time when she had nothing to lose and everything to gain. But she had been forestalled that time before she could act, and later, when she'd replayed that moment over and over in her mind, she didn't know if she would have ever actually killed her intended victim if Hannya of the Oniwabanshu hadn't been there and stopped her.   
  
"Megumi!" Sanosuke said urgently. She knew he was asking her to use it, to distract the man and hopefully give him a chance to attack. But she couldn't do it. She couldn't for the life of her move her arm.   
  
A green blur suddenly flew into view from the edge of her vision.   
  
"What the--" The man holding her never got to finish his sentence.  
  
Megumi shut her eyes tightly, ducking instinctively as something shattered behind her, and her attacker's grip suddenly loosened. The world seemed to slow to an interminable crawl as she felt the sickening slide of the knife across her neck as the man behind her slumped and folded to the ground.   
  
She felt herself falling to her knees, and she swayed, the ground rushing up at her, when a strong arm pulled her upright, steadying her as she was gently led away from the attacker. She looked back to find the remnants of a shattered vase that had apparently slammed into the face of the man. He lay still, rivulets of blood springing from a large gash on his forehead. His eyes were open. The impact must have been impressive, a small detached portion of her mind thought, for him to have died from such a seemingly insignificant wound.  
  
"Megumi. Megumi!" The voice came across to her seemingly from a great distance. She felt someone shaking her, but the movement was sluggish, as if they were under water. She blinked, finally managing to pull her eyes away from the ghastly sight of the dead man at her feet. She looked up into a pair of intense brown eyes filled with worry. Because of her, she realized. They were worried about her.   
  
"Megumi! Look at me!"  
  
"Daijoubu," she managed finally, as the world speeded up to its normal pace again, and the strange floaty sensation in her head faded to a dull ache. "Let go, Sanosuke, you're hurting me."  
  
The iron grip released in an instant, and the street fighter backed a step with a hastily muttered "gomen". Megumi hesitantly brought a hand to her neck and was relieved when she felt the wound to be fairly superficial. It was bleeding more than she'd like, but who was she to complain? She'd escaped the situation intact and relatively unharmed.   
  
"Kisama! Fucking asshole!" Sanosuke yelled.  
  
It took her a moment for her stunned mind to realize his words weren't directed at her. She followed his gaze and turned to see Hiko Seijurou calmly approaching them as if he were taking a leisurely stroll on a fine Sunday morning.   
  
Hiko looked at Sanosuke for a long moment before deciding the young man wasn't worth his trouble. "You're welcome," he said ironically, and walked past them towards the dead man.  
  
"You could've got her killed!" Sanosuke's good hand was clenched in a fist. He was a bundle of coiled rage that looked ready to go off at any moment.  
  
"I calculated my throw to make sure he'd fall in the right direction. Megumi-sensei would only have a shallow cut at the most. She was never in any danger. I wouldn't have allowed that."   
  
Sanosuke bristled incoherently at the arrogance of the man.  
  
Hiko knelt down and picked up a shard from the ruined vase. "A pity," he said, simply. "I worked on this thing for hours."  
  
"Why you--"  
  
Hiko looked at Sanosuke and frowned.   
  
"Forget it, you two. It's over and done with," Megumi broke in before things got ugly. "Hiko-san, thank you for saving my life. Sanosuke, please, I'm fine."  
  
Sanosuke looked at the tall swordsman with narrowed eyes, but remained silent.   
  
"What are you two doing in this part of town?" asked Hiko, mildly curious.  
  
"What do you mean? We're heading back to the Shirobeko," said Megumi.  
  
Hiko smirked. "Might as well start over then. You're nowhere close."  
  
"Huh?" asked Sano suspiciously.  
  
"You didn't get very far. You're still near the Aoiya. It's just down this street," said Hiko.   
  
Megumi threw Sanosuke a searing look. She'd heard that he had a bad sense of direction, but really....  
  
"I was on my way there to drop off a small gift," continued Hiko. He looked at the shard in his hand. "No point in going anymore." He nudged the dead body with his toe. "So. Who's this?"  
  
"A follower of Makoto Shishio, I suspect," said Megumi. "Your help was greatly appreciated, Hiko-san, but I wish you wouldn't have killed him. It would have been nice to question him," said Megumi, her mind clicking into analytical mode, a defense against the gnawing hysteria that threatened to overwhelm her. She had nearly died. She'd had a knife to her throat....   
  
Hiko's eyebrows went up at that. "If Shishio's followers are spying on us, they might know about the Shirobeko by now."  
  
Ken-san, Megumi thought with a sudden fear.   
  
She knew Sanosuke was thinking the same, for the younger man suddenly lost all signs of animosity toward Hiko, too concerned to bother with petty squabbles. "But if they don't know yet, then they'll soon find out. All they'd have to do is follow one of us back from the Aoiya," he said. "We have to warn the others!"  
  
"Take Megumi-sensei back to the Shirobeko," said Hiko calmly. "And I'll go warn your friends."  
  
"No. No, I can't fight well enough," said Sanosuke looking grimly at his ruined hand. "I wouldn't be much help if we were attacked again. You take Megumi back, and I'll go warn the others."   
  
It pained him to admit his weakness, Megumi saw, but Sanosuke, despite appearances, was no fool. And amazingly, he could swallow his pride, for once, for the safety of his friends. Megumi could barely believe the change in the man. The Sanosuke she knew could never have admitted to weakness, could never have agreed to having Hiko escort her back. Something had happened to him in his time here in Kyoto. Megumi promised herself that when time allowed, she'd find out what had caused this change.   
  
She smiled encouragingly at him. "Go then, Sanosuke, hurry. From now on, we'll all have to take a circuitous route when we return from the Aoiya."  
  
He looked uncertainly at her.  
  
"I'm fine, baka," she assured him. "Now go."   
  
With an almost apologetic nod, he turned to go, breaking out into a quick run.   
  
"And be careful!" she called after him.  
  
He waved his hand briefly, but didn't look back.  
  
Megumi took a deep breath. "Well," she said to Hiko. "I suppose we'd better move."  
  
He nodded somberly, then took her by the hand and led her through a maze of unfamiliar streets. Their journey was a blur to Megumi, her thoughts tumbling one over the other at the implications of what had just happened. She allowed herself to be led without paying much heed to her surroundings. Just concentrated on moving her feet as quickly as she could, trying not to slow Hiko down too much. Before she knew it, the surroundings began to take on familiar form, and she looked up to see the stands and store fronts of the marketplace near the Shirobeko. They had made their way to the restaurant without difficulty.   
  
All seemed well at the Shirobeko, Megumi noted in relief. She had half expected to arrive and find the building ruined, burned, or destroyed in some ghastly fashion.   
  
"Where is Okina-san?" Megumi asked Sae as the small proprietress opened the door for them, her smile dissolving into concern when she saw Megumi and Hiko's faces. "We have to speak to him immediately."  
  
The elderly Oniwabanshu agent appeared within moments, the lines in his face deepening in concern as Megumi related the day's events. The three of them discussed matters briefly before Okina sent several of Sae's staff out on secret tasks that Megumi could only guess at. The Oniwabanshu had contacts all over the city. Their information network was vast, and Megumi was sure that if anyone could find answers, Okina's people would be the ones, and they'd do so with speed and efficiency. Okina had also sent some messengers to the police station. Hopefully, they'd be able to spare some officers to come stand guard in the Shirobeko.   
  
Hiko also left, stating that he had questions of his own that he wished to investigate. Megumi had hoped the warrior would stay at the Shirobeko for a while. His presence made her feel more secure. But he'd assured her that he would remain in the area, and that he'd come if any trouble broke out.  
  
And so, left alone while everyone else went about their plans, Megumi decided that she would serve everyone best by getting herself cleaned up and then seeing to Ken-san's care. She took a much needed bath and changed into a fresh kimono, one that was blessedly free of blood and dirt. She then padded softly into the sickroom where the rurouni was sleeping quietly, unaware of all the tension and controlled chaos around him. People were moving, hunting for information, preparing for a possible attack on the Shirobeko... and Kenshin slept on peacefully, blissfully unaware.   
  
It was her sole consolation, thought Megumi, as she seated herself next to the small swordsman. Ken-san didn't need to know of any of this. He'd given too much of himself already. It was only fitting that he was spared any worry, that the rest of them helped him for a change.   
  
She noted with clinical detachment that her hands had begun to shake. How very odd, considering she was perfectly all right now. The danger was long gone, the threat to her life over. She'd faced death today and escaped with only a small scratch to show for it. Nothing, really, compared to what her brave friends had faced time and time again.   
  
She was safe and sound. And she had plenty to do. She should change Ken-san's dressings. And mix a fresh brew of tea for him. And cut some new bandages. And damn, but her cowardly hands wouldn't stop shaking.   
  
She had a hundred little chores that she should have been doing. Instead, she began to cry. Not now, that little clinical part of herself scolded. Please, not now! But her body refused to obey her, and the tears began to fall uncontrollably.   
  
Takani Megumi curled up beside Ken-san on the floor, body wracked by soundless sobs, as she covered her face with her hands, and wept herself silently to sleep.  
  
  
==============================  
To be continued. 


	6. Chapter 06 Awakenings

RECOVERY: Chapter 6 - Awakenings   
By Haku Baikou  
08.Mar.2003  
==============================  
  
The first thing she saw when she awoke was a spill of glistening red across her field of vision.   
  
Megumi blinked away the disorientation and realized that what she was seeing was Ken-san's hair, and that she was lying on the floor of his room. The memories cam rushing back, then, and she sat up quickly, her hand going automatically to her throat. She was reassured to find that the blood that came off on her fingertips was dried, not fresh. The events of the afternoon had shaken her to the core, and for the first time in years, Takani Megumi was afraid to be alone.   
  
She'd never admit that fear to anyone, of course. Her composure may have been shaken, but her pride was still intact. She would keep herself busy, keep her mind occupied, and then she wouldn't be frightened. She was safe here at the Shirobeko, she knew. Okina was always around, and today was Kurojou's turn to stay and keep watch here instead of going to the Aoiya. And Sanosuke ought to be back by now, she guessed. It was probably late afternoon, judging by the position of the sun.  
  
Megumi went downstairs to the kitchen where Sae and her staff were busy preparing for dinner.  
  
"Megumi-sensei," said Sae brightly with her usual squinty smile. "Is there something you need?"  
  
"No, thank you. I was wondering, has Sanosuke come back?"  
  
"No. We haven't seen him."  
  
"Aa, all right," she frowned slightly and headed back upstairs to Ken-san's room. The idiot was probably taking his time coming back, making sure no one tailed him. There was no sense in worrying too much. She'd keep herself occupied until he returned with more news.  
  
She went to her bags and took out a small box filled with various tiny instruments of her trade. She selected a small sliver of a knife which she would use to remove some of Ken-san's stitches. It had been a week since the battle. Time for some of the stitches on his smaller wounds to come out.   
  
She removed the ones from his neck first, carefully turning his face away from her as she cut the sutures one by one and pulled them out slowly. She stopped as he stirred, his jaw line clenching briefly. But then he was quiet again, and she managed to remove all of them on both sides without waking him. Next came the ones on his chest, and finally on his right hip, a wound compliments of Shinomori, according to what Sanosuke had told her. She frowned at the thought of Shinomori Aoshi. Ken-san had always thought there was some good in the man, but Megumi could not believe it. Too many bitter memories entwined in that train of thought, so she forced herself not to think of the days when she was a prisoner of Kanryu, forced herself to remain focused on the task at hand.   
  
She was intent on her work, mind closed off to the world, when a soft, familiar voice shattered the silence.  
  
"Megumi-dono."  
  
She yelped in a most un-Megumi-like fashion at the unexpected sound of the rurouni's voice and almost cut herself with the small blade.   
  
"Ken-san! You're awake," she observed brilliantly. She set the blade aside and turned, finding herself regarded by familiar pools of violet, free of the delirium that had clouded them for the last week. His eyes were still hazed from weariness and pain, but there was sense behind them, at least. Megumi could see that for the first time since his battle, the swordsman's mind was clear, completely lucid.  
  
"Awake, hai." His words were hoarse and barely above a whisper, but they were, nevertheless, the most wonderful sound she'd heard in a long time. Himura Kenshin had finally returned to them.   
  
"Welcome back, Ken-san," she said, her voice husky. "We've missed you."  
  
Kenshin struggled to keep his eyes in focus and looked drowsily about the unfamiliar room, trying to get his bearings. His eyes widened suddenly, as an urgent memory struck. In a voice tinged with intense worry, he began to ask, "Is everyone--The Juppongatana--"  
  
"Have been soundly defeated, Ken-san," she told him. She had known that that would be among one of the first questions he'd ask. "Our friends are all fine. Everyone from the Aoiya is safe."  
  
She could tell that he'd been expecting the worst and was relieved when she'd allayed his deepest fears. His lashes dipped briefly, and he relaxed somewhat, sinking deeper into the softness of the futon. "Shishou," he said softly.   
  
The violet eyes opened again, slowly, centering on Megumi as if she were his anchor, something to lock onto when the world was a slippery blur that threatened to overwhelm his tired senses. Megumi knew the sensation well, by what her past patients had told her, if not by personal experience. The disorientation after so long a lapse could be overwhelming for some.   
  
She had been through this scenario time and time again, the awakening of a patient after a prolonged sleep, the anxiety experienced by those who were hurt and confused, who had no idea where they were or what had happened to them. She'd long developed the practice of filling them in on much needed information immediately, before they even had a chance to think of the questions themselves. It relieved their confusion somewhat and made their first waking moments a little more bearable. For this reason, she was glad that she was the one who'd been watching Kenshin when he awoke. A little professionalism in this situation was, in her mind, a good thing.  
  
And so, despite her overwhelming urge to pounce on and embrace Ken-san (and probably scare the hell out of him) she instead, quickly summed up the events of the last week, adding plenty of assurances as to everyone's well-being. She told him of how he had been brought to the Aoiya by Sano and Aoshi, and how they had all made it then to the Shirobeko since the Aoiya had been destroyed. She left the details of their friends' battles untold, however. Those were for Kaoru and Yahiko to tell. They'd earned it.   
  
"You'd be proud of everyone, Ken-san. They did well, that night. They didn't leave much for Hiko-san to do, I'm afraid."  
  
He blinked a couple times after she was done speaking, trying to process everything she'd told him, fighting off weariness. By force of will his eyes had remained open as he hungrily soaked in the information she had to give, determined to hear all the news.   
  
And because she knew Ken-san would be too considerate of her own feelings to ask about something he knew Megumi was sensitive about, she added on her own, "Kaoru is fine, as I'm sure you're wondering, Ken-san. She worried about you a great deal, of course, but she's all right. She's visited you every day. She would never have left your side at all if Sanosuke and the others hadn't convinced her to get out of the house a bit and help them at the Aoiya."  
  
"Arigatou, Megumi-dono," he said finally, beginning to fade out again. His eyes widened slightly at another thought. "Megumi-dono?"  
  
She leaned in closer to hear him better. "Yes, Ken-san?"   
  
"You must be tired. Have you had a chance to rest?"  
  
He could still surprise her. All the patients she'd seen in all the years she'd been caring for people.... Leave it to Ken-san to awaken from a nightmare, only to think of her welfare before his own.   
  
"Hai, I've rested," she whispered. "I'm very well."   
  
(Now that you're back, she added silently.)   
  
"Can I get you anything? Are you hurting very badly?" she said in her lightest, most merry voice, trying not to betray her emotions or let him see the tempest in her mind.   
  
"Iya," he answered. But he had hesitated. She knew he was lying.   
  
Megumi filled a cup with warm water and mixed in a small amount of crushed seiyo-otogiriso. Kenshin's eyes were closed when she brought the cup back to him, but he awakened easily enough at her light touch. She got an arm around his back and managed to lift him to a half sitting position, his head resting against her shoulder.   
  
"There's blood on your neck," he noticed, concerned.  
  
She almost froze. Almost.   
  
Megumi recovered herself quickly and was relieved that Ken-san was too tired to detect her alarm. She hadn't told him about today's disturbing events. She'd be damned if she would ruin his peace of mind now of all times.   
  
"Blood? I'm afraid it's yours, Ken-san," she lied easily. "Now drink all of this. It'll take some of the pain away and help you sleep." She smiled down at him. "Believe it or not, the world doesn't need you for once. It's doing fine on its own. So, you can take it easy for a little while at least, neh?"  
  
His eyes were threatening to close again, but he resisted. "Sessha would like to see everyone," he said faintly. "Kaoru.... Yahiko...."  
  
"And Okina, and Misao, and Sanosuke," she finished for him, keeping her tone light. "And you will. Later. They're at the Aoiya right now anyway and won't be back for some time. Rest, Ken-san, so you'll have more strength when they arrive. Listen to the doctor on this one. Megumi-dono knows all." She followed the sing-song Fox Lady tone with a more serious, "I promise I'll wake you when they come."  
  
He managed a smile and nodded slightly as she lowered him back down.   
  
And then he drifted out again, leaving her alone, shaky, and not knowing why she felt that way.   
  
Megumi adjusted Ken-san's covers and brushed long red bangs clear of his pale face. She sat for a moment, watching him sleep, then got up slowly, stiff and tired from the day's exertions. She hugged herself, shivering slightly as she looked out the window over the rooftops towards an Aoiya too far away to see. So many friends there were at the Aoiya, all of them so very dear to Ken-san....   
  
Especially Kaoru. Always Kaoru.   
  
"Don't be a baby, Takani Megumi," she said to herself, fighting off the familiar jealousy she always felt when thinking of the girl. Megumi, not Kaoru, had been the one to greet Ken-san in his first waking moments. And she had been a comfort to him. He had gone back to sleep with a smile on his face. That memory was a treasure to her, one to lock away and keep close to her heart. A small consolation when she knew that her moments alone with the rurouni would be coming to a close now that he was recovering, and that those would be the only moments she'd ever have alone with him. Soon he would be Kaoru's again, and Kaoru's alone.   
  
But that didn't matter, did it. Ken-san was getting better. His well-being was the only thing that truly mattered.  
  
"Yare yare," she said to herself overcome by a strange melancholy. She leaned against the windowsill, idly playing with strands of her hair.   
  
She found her thoughts straying towards a certain gruff-mannered street fighter whom she hoped was safe after his solo journey back to the others. Her eyebrows lifted at that surprising self-revelation. She cared about the guy, of course, as she cared for any of her friends. But she hadn't been aware that Rooster Head ranked so highly in her concerns. He was an annoying rogue at the best of times, and a downright bastard at the worst. Baka. He was supposed to take a circuitous route back, sure, but it shouldn't have taken him that long. She hoped he hadn't run into more trouble on the way back. Hoped he wasn't dead in a ditch somewhere.  
  
Megumi shook her head, clearing away her morbid thoughts. Kaoru and Yahiko would never bide by such grim musings. Nor would her new acquaintances, Okina and that crazy weasel girl, Misao. They all had an idealistic outlook on life. It was an optimism that Megumi had thought long lost from her own soul and only now was rediscovering in herself, a hope tiny and delicate as a fledgling bird. But that hope was there, against all odds, ready to be kindled and nurtured thanks to these new friends she had met through Ken-san.   
  
As if cued by her thoughts, the front door opened downstairs and Megumi heard Sanosuke's steps as he bound up the stairway, taking the steps two at a time. Relief (and just a touch of irritation at the noisiness of his approach) flooded through her as he entered the room, all energy and motion, as usual. She was pleased to see him. But there was no way in the world she was going to let him know that. She managed to keep from smiling like an idiot, and instead, arched one eyebrow in mirthful contempt.   
  
"So. What took you so long?" she asked.  
  
He slouched against the wall, and hesitated before mumbling: "I got lost."  
  
It was the last thing she'd expected. And yet it should have been the first.   
  
Megumi laughed and laughed.  
  
Sanosuke grimaced, his cheeks flushing red. He was about to retort with some rude, snappy comeback, she was sure, when he did a double take.   
  
"Oi, there's still blood on your neck!"   
  
She blinked. "Ken-san said the same thing."  
  
"What?" he said, with a quick look towards the sleeping rurouni.   
  
"I didn't tell him what happened though. I didn't want to worry him."  
  
"Chikushou! He was awake, and I missed it?" Sanosuke's sharp features contorted briefly in a beady-eyed scowl which quickly became a thoughtful frown. Megumi stared in academic fascination at how the young man's expressions could alter so rapidly. "What else did he say?"  
  
"He asked how everyone was," she said.   
  
"Heh, that comes as no surprise."  
  
"No, it certainly doesn't."   
  
Megumi looked fondly back at the sleeping figure behind her. She thanked the gods constantly for the day they led her across Himura Kenshin's path. He was the kindest, most gentle person she knew. He was wise beyond his twenty-eight years and possessed a grace that was obvious both physically and spiritually. He saw the best in people. Was even able to see the goodness in Megumi at the lowest point in her life when she had thought all honor was lost forever and given up on herself. Her life had fallen to pieces. But now she was building it up again, piece by piece, thanks to Kenshin and these kind people she'd come to call her friends.   
  
"Kitsune-onna."  
  
Megumi looked up at the young street fighter. She found no trace of the scoundrel about him at the moment, and the familiar taunt had been spoken without its usual teasing tone. He looked thoughtful. Well, as thoughtful as an idiot could, at any rate.   
  
"What are you thinking of?" he asked.   
  
"'Sessha,' Ken-san still called himself." Megumi shook her head slowly. "He's just saved all of Japan and risked everything doing so. And he still thinks himself unworthy. I was wondering.... How could such a man, who can see so clearly into the hearts of others, be so utterly...."  
  
"Wrong about himself," finished Sano.   
  
"Hai."  
  
Sanosuke shrugged and joined her at the window, drinking in the view of the city. "I don't think I'll ever understand the guy, really," he said slowly, his voice uncharacteristically quiet. "I don't think anyone could, not even jou-chan."  
  
There was an odd moment of silence between the two of them as they looked out over the expanse of Kyoto.   
  
"Oh, I almost forgot," said Megumi. She took out the small knife he'd given her and held it before him. "Thank you for this." She felt awkward, never dreaming that she'd be thanking Rooster Head for anything.   
  
"Keep it. It was for you," he said casually, his eyes looking off into the distance again after a quick glance down at the object. "You're the only one of us who isn't a trained fighter. I thought it'd be safer for you to have it."  
  
She stared at him. Couldn't think of a single thing to say, for once, and just stared at him.  
  
He finally noticed her gaze. And in a typical Sanosuke response, misinterpreted her silence as scorn.   
  
"Uh, look, if you don't want it, you can give it back to Oumime. It's one of hers that she didn't need," he said, beginning to become irritated. "I sure as hell don't need it. I wouldn't be caught dead with a puny little knife like that!"  
  
Megumi tucked the small blade back into place, saying nothing. Sanosuke, to Megumi's wicked satisfaction, looked completely perplexed.  
  
"Baka," she murmured amused, confusing the young man even more. She was sure her own face was a perfect study in serenity as she kept her gaze fixed on the Kyoto horizon.   
  
Sanosuke looked as if he would say more, then thought better of it, and--wisest choice he ever made--decided to keep his mouth shut. He shrugged in mock defeat and leaned against the frame of the window.   
  
The sun was setting.   
  
They watched it in silence together.  
  
==============================  
To be continued.  
  
Definitions:  
Kitsune-onna - Fox Lady.  
Yare yare - well, well. 


	7. Chapter 07 Reflections & Revelations

Warning: I would hope that it's already obvious to all that Recovery contains Kyoto Arc spoilers. This chapter, however, contains major Kyoto Arc spoilers, so this is just a reminder. Consider yourself forewarned.  
RECOVERY: Chapter 7 - Reflections & Revelations  
By Haku Baikou  
18.Mar.2003  
==============================  
  
They had promised they'd visit him one at a time so as not to overwhelm him or wear him out. That promise didn't last long. Kaoru had been in the rurouni's room about ten minutes before Yahiko, Misao, and Sanosuke could wait no more. They'd all tumbled in then, despite Megumi's scoldings, and soon after, Okina and Hiko had naturally followed. Kenshin took the invasion good naturedly, of course. He'd had a pinched, fragile look about his eyes and didn't speak much, but he'd stayed awake the entire time.  
  
And he'd looked happy. That much had been evident through the exhaustion and the pain. His tired eyes had twinkled at Misao and Yahiko's enthusiastic recountings of their battle victories. And he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of Kaoru as he smiled with a mix of worry and pride when told of her contribution to the fight at the Aoiya. He had looked frequently at all of them, actually. Not just Kaoru. It was as if he didn't trust that they were real, that they weren't merely more manifestations of his formerly delirious mind. Kaoru seemed to unconsciously sense this fear, for she touched his sleeve briefly at times, and looked down at him, smiling reassuringly.   
  
It had been a good night, that night three days ago when the rurouni had finally awakened, and they'd all piled into his room. It had since become part of the routine. Every day, Megumi, Hiko, and Okina would stay at the Shirobeko, guarding Ken-san and the restaurant itself, while the others continued repairs at the Aoiya at an increased pace. There was an underlying sense of urgency now about the repairs. It was a tacit understanding among them all, that the sooner the Oniwaban headquarters was restored, the better. So they worked at a fevered pace and were careful of their route when they headed back to Sae's. It was a tense time during the days. But in the evenings, when everyone was safely together under one roof again, the tension would ease a little, and after dinner, they'd all gather in Ken-san's room to keep the rurouni company for the remainder of the evening.   
  
They had, remarkably, managed to keep their various concerns regarding Shishio's men hidden from the rurouni, something they could never have done had Kenshin's swordsman's sense been in peak condition. As it was, Ken-san was still weak, far from being well enough to focus his attention on reading or anticipating anyone's intents. The swordsman's inability to read everyone both relieved and worried Megumi, though she kept her concerns from the others.   
  
Ken-san was still too pale, and his recovery was slower than she would have anticipated for one who had previously been in such good physical condition. Megumi's main concern now was the stab wound in his side. Despite all her care, it stubbornly refused to heal. She sat looking at the wound now, examining it in mild consternation before carefully pulling out the dressing. She'd continuously tucked fresh strips of herb-soaked bandages inside the wound to keep another pocket of pus from forming as it had in the first few days after the battle. So, infection was no longer a problem as far as she could tell. The problem was that the wound was still steadily oozing blood after all this time. Ten days had passed since the battle. The wound ought to have stopped bleeding and begun to heal long ago, despite the fact that Megumi had had to lance it open last week. Ken-san was losing too much blood, and his current anemic state kept him bed-ridden, too lightheaded and short of breath to move about or try to rebuild his strength.   
  
Kenshin suspected that something was wrong. He hadn't said anything to that effect, but Megumi was sure of it. The swordsman had had too much experience with wounds in the past. He was bound to realize that something was not quite right. He was awake now, propped up in a seated position in the corner of the room with an unused folded futon and various cushions behind his back. He watched her with fuzzy interest as she carefully pulled the packing from his side. He made no sound as she did so, but from his tensed muscles and the carefully controlled way in which he was breathing, Megumi knew he was hurting.   
  
"Gomen, Ken-san," she murmured as the rest of the packing was pulled out. At least Ken-san was no longer passing out after the dressing changes, she thought briefly before frowning at the sight of yet another blood-soaked bandage in her hand.   
  
"Megumi-dono, is something wrong?" he asked suddenly in his quiet and low voice, the voice that Megumi had come to associate as Ken-san's most pure voice, neither the light tone of the rurouni nor the deadly hiss of the Battousai.   
  
"I don't know why this isn't healing, Ken-san," she admitted as she worked. "It just doesn't want to stop bleeding. And that's odd since the rest of your wounds are healing so nicely."  
  
A brief silence, and then, cryptically: "If a wound is made by the sword of someone with a strong hatred, that wound will not heal until revenge has been exacted."  
  
Megumi paused and looked at Ken-san in concern. The words were not something that she'd expect Ken-san to say. He sounded far away, a bit sad. There was a pain in his voice that had nothing to do with his wounds.  
  
But then the uncomfortable moment passed, and Ken-san seemed himself again.   
  
"However," he continued thoughtfully, "Sessha was not referring to the wound. Is anything else wrong, Megumi-dono?"  
  
The rurouni's amethyst eyes were gentle and clear as he regarded her. His swordsman's sense was possibly returning, Megumi realized, despite his weakened physical state. So, he'd picked up on everyone's unease after all. Megumi looked down at her work, sorely tempted to reveal everything to the rurouni. But something made her hesitate.  
  
"I worry about you, Ken-san. We all do," she replied vaguely. It was a half-truth at least. He'd learn of the attack by Shishio's men soon enough, but still, it was kinder to keep the news from him. Revealing such disturbing events while Ken-san was still too weak to be of any help would only torture the swordsman needlessly. He would want to contribute in some way, Megumi knew, and he would be unable to do so.  
  
To Megumi's relief, Ken-san relented, asking her no further questions. He seemed too tired still to push the issue and try to glean any more information from her.   
  
"What was that you said about a wound made from strong hatred?" she asked in an effort to distract him.   
  
"Someone who was once a friend said it," he answered intriguing her even more, "the last time it happened."  
  
Someone who was once a friend? Again, Megumi found herself puzzled by his odd choice of words. She wondered if that someone had later become an enemy? Or perhaps that someone had simply died. She sighed mentally. Ken-san was an enigma even now. After all the months she had known him, she still couldn't fathom him at times. Hiko-san had taught Ken-san well, she thought. The rurouni was as maddeningly uncommunicative as his master, one of the few personality traits the two unfortunately shared.   
  
"This has happened before?" she said.  
  
"Hai." He nodded. "Once. A long time ago."  
  
"And Shishio was filled with hatred when he made this wound?" She frowned. "But I don't understand. Wasn't he filled with just as much hatred when he gave you the other wounds? They're healing well. Why is this one different?"  
  
The rurouni lowered his head, violet eyes hidden by a veil of red bangs, his mouth tensed in a thin line. It took a considerable effort for Megumi not to blurt any further questions, to give the rurouni time to answer. That is, if he would answer at all.  
  
Ken-san had not spoken much of the battle with Makoto Shishio to anyone. And when Kaoru and Megumi had tried to pry the story from Sanosuke a couple of days ago, the street fighter had been surprisingly reticent on the matter, dodging their questions and slinking off muttering something about having to repay some gambling debts around town. They'd had information regarding the battle only in the broadest of terms, but no one other than the three survivors of the battle had any ideas of the details. Ken-san simply was not ready to tell them yet, and both Shinomori and Sagara gave no indication of revealing anything before the rurouni himself was ready to speak.  
  
Megumi was beginning to think Ken-san had gone into secretive mode once again, shutting himself apart from the world, when he quietly said, "There was a woman there."  
  
"A woman?"   
  
"Hai. Her name was Yumi," he said. "She was Makoto Shishio's lover."  
  
For some reason, hearing Ken-san speak of women and lovers seemed odd to Megumi. He almost never spoke of love. Not in the broad general sense, and certainly not pertaining to individuals. Megumi had noted time and time again that love was a topic the rurouni avoided like the plague, often feigning ignorance and naiveté, making every conceivable effort to skirt the subject.  
  
Kenshin hesitated a moment before continuing. "She died from the same stroke that caused this wound."  
  
Megumi frowned. "I'm afraid I don't understand. How could that possibly happen?"  
  
"Shishio was down, nearly defeated, and sessha had to decide whether or not...whether or not to kill him." His words came slowly from a distance as if each had to be painfully dragged from deep within him. Megumi shuddered at the thought of the former hitokiri being forced to consider such a choice, to decide whether or not to break a vow that he had struggled for ten long years to uphold.   
  
"Ken-san," she whispered. "You don't have to say anymore if you don't want. I never meant to drag up such painful memories. Please pardon my silly curiosity."  
  
"Iya, it's all right," he said. He looked out the window at the early evening sky. The clouds were tinged with gold, their frayed edges glinting as if on fire. He frowned slightly and turned away from the sight. "Yumi-dono ran between us and fell to her knees. She begged for Shishio's life."  
  
"And you lowered your sword," Megumi concluded.  
  
"Hai." He looked at her, his gaze brittle. "And then Shishio struck. Through her back...." He swallowed, his voice faltering.  
  
Megumi blinked in stunned disbelief. "He stabbed you both? He killed her to get to you? What a monster!"  
  
"Sessha thought so too. At first. But now, it isn't so clear."  
  
"What's so unclear about it?"  
  
"Sessha can imagine the pain Shishio felt when he--"  
  
"Ken-san! Don't you dare tell me you're feeling sorry for that devilish fiend!" Megumi couldn't help raising her voice. Kenshin was too kind-hearted. Infuriatingly so at times. "The man killed his love to preserve his own worthless life! How could you feel sorry for him? How on earth could you possibly even imagine what that felt like? Only a monster could kill the one he loves...."  
  
She stopped suddenly. Kenshin was staring at her, his violet eyes wide, his breathing raggedly uneven. Something she had said had horrified him, she realized. Had struck something in him so deeply that he couldn't even respond to her.  
  
"Ken-san?" she asked alarmed at her blunder, wondering what she had said to upset the rurouni so. "Ken-san? What did I say?"  
  
He blinked, recovering slowly. "Nothing," he whispered, but he couldn't seem to look her in the eye.  
  
She didn't speak for a long moment, distressed that she had caused him further pain. She longed to ask him what she had done to hurt him, but he looked miserable and seemed as if he simply wanted to forget the conversation had ever taken place.   
  
"Sumimasen," she said finally, at a loss for anything else to say. "I've hurt you terribly."   
  
His response was automatic. "No, Megumi-dono. Sessha ought to be the one to apologize."  
  
Megumi had to laugh, albeit a bit desperately. She couldn't help it. It was the only release possible for the tension she'd managed to create. Ken-san's earnest concern and the characteristic worrying for others' welfare was the one constant in his personality that could never be muted or pushed aside. It was part of the reason she adored him, and she found it incongruously amusing. Even now, when he was so obviously distressed, when she had been the idiot at fault....  
  
"Ken-san, you're too kind, do you know that?" she smiled. "You are far too kind."  
  
He was confused by her sudden shift into amusement, but he seemed relieved that she was in better spirits. His expression lightened, and then his eyes went beyond her face to focus on something behind by the doorway.  
  
"Shishou," he said smiling, his gloom further dissolving in the presence of his master.  
  
"Baka deshi," replied an all too familiar deep voice.  
  
Megumi started, once again caught off guard by the large swordsman's silent entrance. Another annoying trait the two swordsmen shared. Both of them, quiet as cats.   
  
"Don't you ever knock?" she asked in feigned irritation. She'd formed a strange friendship of sorts with Hiko-san over the last week, and unlike the others, was not at all intimidated by the warrior's gruff manners. Megumi wasn't exactly sure why Hiko Seijuro treated her differently from the rest of Kenshin's friends. Perhaps he respected her for her physician's skills. Or perhaps it had something to do with the fact that aside from Hiko himself, Megumi was the only one who wasn't in awe of Ken-san, who saw the rurouni as just another human being rather than a living legend. Hiko ignored her question and settled himself beside Megumi, jar of sake (his constant companion) at his side.   
  
He poured a cup and offered it to the rurouni. "This'll put some color back in that sickly face of yours."  
  
"Hiko-san!" said Megumi stormily.  
  
"Shishou," laughed Ken-san, embarrassed. He held up his hands, declining his master's offered drink.  
  
"Hmph," Hiko-san smirked. "You take it then," he said, plopping the cup in Megumi's hands. "Baka deshi, never could hold his drink." And then more seriously. "Your friends are almost home. Can you sense them?"  
  
Kenshin's smile faded. "No."  
  
Hiko looked at his former student a moment, then shrugged. If he was concerned or disappointed, he didn't show it.   
  
"No matter," he said. "It'll come back in time. I'm just warning you they're coming. Those crazy friends of yours tend to make a racket whenever they arrive. The sound grates on my nerves. I've been thinking of going home. Back to some peace and quiet for a change."  
  
"But Hiko-san," said Megumi with more alarm in her voice than she'd intended. She couldn't say anything about Shishio's men in front of Ken-san, so she looked at Hiko-san meaningfully, hoping he'd understand her unvoiced concerns. "Must you leave so soon?"   
  
"Shishou, can you not stay a little while longer?" asked the rurouni.  
  
Hiko looked at Kenshin, then at Megumi. "I'm hungry," was all he said as he got to his feet, ready to go downstairs for dinner. "It's time to eat."  
  
Megumi was determined to follow Hiko-san downstairs until she got a more satisfying answer. "Rest, Ken-san. I'll be back with some dinner for you soon," she said as she followed Hiko out the door.   
  
They heard the sounds of the others coming home just then, the light pounding of Yahiko and Misao's quick feet, Kaoru chastising her student, Sanosuke's growling laughter.  
  
"Ah, they're back," said Ken-san softly, a slight smile on his lips.   
  
Hiko frowned. "Racket," he said simply, as he turned to pull Kenshin's door shut on their way out.   
  
"Iya, please. Leave it open," said the rurouni. "Sessha likes to hear everyone. The sounds are... soothing."  
  
Hiko raised an eyebrow making it plain he thought his baka deshi was crazy, then left the door open as he headed downstairs.  
  
"Why are you leaving now of all times?" Megumi whispered urgently when they were out of earshot from Kenshin's room.  
  
The warrior shrugged. "I told you. It's too damned noisy around here. I'm a hermit for a reason."  
  
Megumi bristled. Just when she thought she was getting along with the man, he never failed to come up with a new way to enrage her. "You're kidding," she practically growled. "You're going to abandon us when Shishio's men could attack any day?"  
  
"They're merely foot soldiers, Megumi-sensei. Nothing compared to the Juppongatana. Nothing you and your friends can't handle on your own," he said as they reached the lower floor and were caught up amid the chaos of their friends, freshly arrived and on their way to dinner. Megumi offered brief greetings to everyone, then continued her argument with Hiko-san. She glared at him and spoke more loudly than perhaps she should have. "But Hiko-san, you can't--"  
  
"Can't what?" asked Sanosuke, noticing Megumi's heated tone and Hiko's dark expression.   
  
"Megumi-san, Hiko-san, is everything all right?" asked Kaoru.  
  
It wasn't until then that Megumi noticed that the rest of the group had also quieted down and was looking at Hiko-san and herself with some concern. A half dozen pairs of eyes were all focused on the two of them, some expressing concern, others simple bafflement. Megumi felt an embarrassed blush creeping up her neck of a sudden. She hesitated, not sure of what to say.   
  
Suddenly, they all heard a soft thud upstairs followed by a muffled "Someone help me!" from Shirojou who was on guard that night.  
  
"Kenshin!" shouted Yahiko, the first to break the silence.   
  
And then they were all running up the stairs together, hearts pounding, racing towards the rurouni's room, each one afraid to voice the fears that had gripped them in the few days since Megumi and Sanosuke had first come across the black-clad spy. Megumi held her breath as Sanosuke flung open the doors to the rurouni's room. They expected an attack. They expected doom.  
  
Thank the gods, their expectations were wrong.   
  
The rurouni was slumped across the window sill with a distraught Shirojou crouched on the roof outside, supporting the redhead by the shoulders. The large man looked at them all apologetically. "Gomen," he said quickly. "I just saw him leaning out of the window, about to fall. I don't know how he knew I was up here. I swear I didn't make a sound!"  
  
The rurouni, face hidden under a tangle of red hair, murmured, "Sessha felt a presence outside the window and thought--"  
  
"It was just me, Himura-san," said Shirojou. "There's no one else out here."  
  
"Told you your swordsman's spirit would be back in time," said Hiko nonchalantly. Megumi suppressed unseemly visions of herself smacking the warrior upside his head with his own sake jar.   
  
"Kenshin no baka," said Kaoru gently, as she knelt before the rurouni, her hand resting lightly on his arm. "Don't do that to us again. You gave us all a fright."   
  
"Gomen nasai, Kaoru-dono" he replied as Sanosuke and Hiko carried him back to his futon. Ken-san's voice was as soft as ever, but the violet eyes that regarded everyone in the room were filled with stubborn determination as he asked, "But sessha wonders: why does Shirojou-san need to be on guard outside the window?"  
  
Megumi bit her lip and looked at the others silently. The room had become very quiet.   
  
"Please," continued Kenshin quietly. "Someone please say what's going on."  
  
They all turned to Kaoru, then. For some reason, they looked to the girl for a final decision.  
  
Kaoru sighed, her large blue eyes locked on the rurouni's violet ones. "It's too late now," she said finally. "We may as well tell him the truth."  
==============================  
  
Gomen nasai - I'm sorry.  
Sumimasen - I'm sorry (polite/formal form).  
Hitokiri - assassin (literally, manslayer). 


	8. Chapter 08 Outing at the Aoiya

RECOVERY: Chapter 8 - Outing at the Aoiya  
By Haku Baikou  
20.Mar.2003  
==============================  
  
Ken-san's reaction to the news regarding Shishio's men had been exactly as Megumi had feared. The very next morning, the rurouni had begun to push himself, trying to stand up on his own, to regain his lost strength. He didn't exactly make it and ended up having to crawl on all fours as he'd done the evening before when he'd sensed Shirojou on the roof. That was how Megumi had found him the next morning: a lump on the floor, shaky, and somewhat embarrassed at having been caught out of bed.   
  
She hadn't bothered chastising him. Had merely sighed, knowing it would be of no use. If Ken-san had it in his head to kill himself trying to get well, then he'd do it with or without anyone's aid (and to the winds with Megumi's wasted admonishments). So, she'd decided to help him with this folly despite her better judgment. Her only condition was that he try his little experiments near the futon so that should he fall, he would have something soft to land on and not damage himself too badly. After all, she'd worked far too hard on his injuries all this time for her efforts to be undone by this foolishness. Noting the dangerous, disapproving glint in her eyes, Ken-san had meekly agreed to her stipulation with a softly murmured "Hai, de gozaru".   
  
She'd helped him up then, taking his hands in hers and supporting him as he pulled himself unsteadily to his feet. And then she'd waited patiently while he closed his eyes waiting a moment for the world to stop spinning. He'd tried to take a step, but his knees had buckled, and Megumi was barely able to keep the swordsman from falling flat on his face. The rurouni's small frame was heavier than she'd expected, and Megumi had never been strong physically. By the time she'd managed to get him back on his futon, his breathing was labored and his hands shook.   
  
"Ken-san, you can't expect to have your strength and energy back so soon, especially when you've bled so much," she'd said gently, seeing the grim look of disappointment and frustration plainly on his face. "One would never try to build a fire without wood. This is no different, right? You can't build your strength when you're so low on blood. And it takes time to get well, especially when you've been in bed for so long."  
  
"Sessha never took this long to recover back in the days of the Bakumatsu." His tone was strained, almost peevish.  
  
"You were never hurt this badly before, Ken-san," she countered. "And," she added wryly in her best Fox Lady voice, "You were never twenty-eight before. You're almost twice the age you were back then, you know. Ancient One."  
  
He had grimaced and laughed then, softly, ruefully. But his equilibrium was back mentally if not physically, and he'd taken her advice to heart and slowed down to a reasonable pace after that.   
  
That had been a week ago. He had steadily improved since then. More so than Megumi thought possible considering the damned wound in his side was still bleeding. He really ought to have died with the amount of blood he'd lost, but leave it to Ken-san to do the impossible and somehow manage to defy generations of medical teachings and get better anyway.   
  
He was sitting, back against the window sill watching the people below in the streets, when Megumi came into the room to change his dressings. He leaned heavily on the sakabatou and moved as slowly and carefully as an old man, but he was walking on his own, unassisted, and seated himself on his futon without too much difficulty.   
  
"Ohayou, Ken-san," she said as she set the small basket of bandages down. "Could you get the salve for me while I boil some water? You know where it's at?"  
  
"Hai," he said as he sifted through the containers in her medicine box.   
  
Megumi smiled to herself as she lit a flame for the water. She had guessed Ken-san would be up early this morning. Megumi had finally deemed him well enough to go out for a while, and today, the rurouni was to leave the confines of the Shirobeko for the first time since he was brought in after the battle. Ken-san had been pent up in his sickroom for two and a half weeks, and restlessness was gradually winning out over patience. So a trip had been arranged as a treat. The police would be here soon with a carriage to take them on a visit to the Aoiya. Sanosuke had stayed behind this morning and would be helping Megumi with Ken-san and with the huge picnic Sae had miraculously whipped up for them. Megumi had brought a substantial amount of food to the Aoiya the last time she visited, but today's lunch would put the last one to shame, so Sae boasted.  
  
"Megumi-dono?"  
  
Something in his voice made her turn around, and as she did so, Megumi suddenly stopped what she was doing. Ken-san held a little black lacquered vial in his hand. It was the bottle Hiko had requested when the rurouni had been in the throes of delirium. Idiot! Megumi thought to herself. She had all but forgotten about the perfume.   
  
"Is this yours?" Ken-san asked.  
  
"Hai," she said, trying to sound casual. "It's white plum perfume," she said lamely. At least she'd managed to make her voice sound quite ordinary.  
  
He stared at the little bottle and spoke haltingly, apprehensively. "Did sessha ever say anything... inappropriate when sessha was sick?"  
  
Megumi sighed. Kenshin's swordsman's sense was (unfortunately) back in full force, and he'd detected something in her voice after all. It would be difficult to lie to him anymore. He'd sense it if she were to hide anything from him.  
  
"You did mention a few names. There was one that seemed to upset you, and Hiko-san thought this perfume would help. He wouldn't explain why though."  
  
"Shishou?" He lifted his eyebrows in surprise at that.   
  
"Hai," she nodded. And then took a risk. "You said a name, Ken-san. You kept calling out for Tomoe."   
  
The rurouni became very still of a sudden.  
  
Megumi continued rapidly before Ken-san could say or think anything else. "I don't know who she was, Ken-san. And I'm not going to ask. But if it helps any...." and here, she continued completely on a guess, on gut instinct, "If it helps any, Kaoru wasn't here when you said it. And we've never mentioned it to her."  
  
"She wasn't here." He sounded relieved. And then: "We?"  
  
"Okina, Sae, and myself," she admitted. "We were all here. But none of us have spoken of it since. You have many secrets, Ken-san. Someday I hope you'll tell us about some of them, but for now...we understand."  
  
His eyes were grateful as he looked at her. "Arigatou, Megumi-dono," he said softly.   
  
She studied her hands, hiding her face. There were very few people in this world who could make Takani Megumi blush like a little girl. She laughed nervously and shook her head.  
  
"Anyway," she said, changing the subject, getting back to the business at hand. "Let's get this dressing change over with, neh? And then we can be on our way. I'm sure everyone is waiting for us, and I'm sure you'll be most impressed with what they've done so far. Okina-san says the repairs ought to be complete by next week. That's pretty quick, isn't it, considering they're rebuilding an entire restaurant and hotel. And won't it be lovely to have lunch in the sunshine, Ken-san? I'm sure you're looking forward to that. Sae has packed enough baskets to feed a small army."   
  
She was babbling like an idiot, she knew. But at least the awkwardness was gone between them, and Ken-san seemed amused, content to listen to her chatty banter as she worked. She and Ken-san had become rather adept with the dressings changes by now. He lifted his arms, turned this way and that, and handed her the salves and bandages at the right times automatically. As always, the bandages came away bloody, but Megumi was determined not to let her worries dampen her mood this morning. She had plenty of other concerns and didn't need to drag both of them down with depressing pessimism. She tried to focus on the positive. Ken-san didn't seem to be in as much pain today. And the oozing did seem a bit less. And wasn't Ken-san doing well despite the hole in his side? There was nothing to do but to continue with her treatments the best she could, so that's what Megumi did.   
  
Sanosuke arrived with their transportation soon after. "Oi, Kenshin, Kitsune-onna!" the street fighter called up to them from the street below.  
  
Megumi hurried to the window. "Stop shouting, baka! The whole neighborhood will hear you," she said, failing to keep the amusement from her voice. "We'll be down in a minute." But the young fighter was too impatient to wait outside, and soon, his footsteps could be heard coming quickly up the stairs.   
  
"Hurry, will you? I've got news to tell," he said frowning intensely. He hooked an arm about the rurouni and half dragged, half carried the poor swordsman down the stairs at a rate that was far too dangerous for Megumi's liking. ("Sano! That's too fast, de gozaru!" A muffled protest from a flustered rurouni.) Megumi couldn't help envisioning the two men tumbling down the remainder of the steps in a blur of pink and white. She murmured "baka" under her breath as she took the stairs at a much saner pace.  
  
Megumi was amused to note that the carriage was driven by the same eager young officer who had accompanied her the last time. He was busy helping Sae load the carriage with an astonishing and somewhat daunting array of baskets.  
  
"Are we all going to fit in there?" she asked dubiously.  
  
"No problem," said Sanosuke as he helped a slightly dizzy and overwhelmed Ken-san into the carriage. "I'm going to be sitting on the top outside." With that, he gave Megumi a quick, meaningful little look and indicated the rooftops with a little tilt of his head. His face was turned away from Sae, and the look in his eye was serious, at odds with the tone of his voice.   
  
Megumi nodded in understanding. Sanosuke was worried. Safety was a concern. And Megumi did not need to be told to keep an eye open this time. Not after the lesson she learned on their last trip back from the Aoiya. She still had nightmares of the attack, could still feel the chill kiss of steel against her neck at times when she was alone in her room at night. She'd thought about it this morning, but had steadily kept it out of her mind, distracting herself with other matters so that the worry wouldn't show too plainly on her face. Ken-san could pick up on her concerns. That couldn't be helped. But he didn't necessarily have to know the extent of her fears. He didn't have to see just how worried she was.  
  
She looked up at Rooster Head, still moving about in a flurry of activity, and she suddenly realized that he had whisked Ken-san down the stairs the way he did for a reason. He had hoped to distract the rurouni, to keep Ken-san from picking up on the tension, to protect the swordsman and prevent him from wanting to help them. Megumi shook her head in reluctant approval. It would take some getting used, this strange Sanosuke who was actually capable of intelligent reasoning. And with that thought in mind, Megumi averted her face, hiding an amused little smirk from the street fighter as she climbed quickly into the carriage after Ken-san.   
  
"Sanosuke-san, there's no need to sit outside," said Sae watching as Sanosuke settled himself, long legs dangling from the back of the carriage. "There's plenty of room inside. Really, why sit up there?"  
  
"To enjoy the sunshine and have a better view," he answered. To keep an eye out for the enemy, was the added implication. Poor Sae, thought Megumi fondly. A wise and kind woman in her own fashion, but so terribly innocent in other ways. She wasn't an old hand at danger and intrigue like the rest of them were. She didn't have the battle instinct for suspicion that many of them shared.   
  
What a sorry lot they all were, thought Megumi smiling to herself. Her friends seemed to attract danger and malice like flies to honey.  
  
Megumi heard Sanosuke rap his knuckles against the top of the carriage, signaling the young officer to go. "That's it. We're ready!" he said.   
  
And with that, they were off. "See you later, Tae!--("That's Sae!" the proprietress called from the doorway.)--Whatever, you both have the same face!"  
  
Megumi watched the buildings fly by, trying to enjoy the ride, trying to relax, trying not to think of shadowy figures lurking on rooftops.   
  
"Megumi-dono, everything will be all right," said Ken-san gently from his corner of the carriage.   
  
Why did they even bother trying to hide things from him, she thought to herself as she smiled at the rurouni. He always seemed to know what everyone was thinking no matter how hard they tried to hide things from him. They all wanted to protect him, and yet they never quite succeeded completely. It wasn't in Ken-san's nature to accept the help they offered without offering at least something of himself in return.   
  
"Sano won't let anything happen to us," he continued with quiet confidence. "And Sessha has the sakabatou. But if sessha isn't strong enough to wield it, then you can come to the rescue with your knife."  
  
How in the world did Ken-san know about her little knife? She had carried it with her ever since the attack. Megumi wasn't sure why she always kept it with her. It wasn't as if she could use it. That had been painfully apparent during her encounter with the spy. But still, it gave her a sense of comfort knowing it was there, and she was more grateful to Sanosuke for the considerate gift than the street fighter would ever really know.   
  
"Now, you're teasing me, Ken-san," she said.   
  
Kenshin merely smiled and leaned his head back. He was soon absorbed by his view from the carriage window and seemed to forget anyone was there with him.   
  
How he loved to people-watch, thought Megumi. He seemed content for the most part, but the physician in Megumi, accustomed to years of searching faces for signs of pain, thought she saw a trace of sorrow in the rurouni's eyes. It saddened her to see him gazing wistfully thus at the world. She knew he felt himself to be forever closed off from the rest of humanity, doomed to be an outsider simply by way of having experienced too much, of having lost the innocence and sense of security and rightness of the world that normal people took for granted. Even were he to atone for all his past transgressions, Kenshin would never experience the world the way others did. He would forever view it through a filter of his own tainted past.   
  
It was something Megumi could understand herself, for she'd gained a similar view of life during her time making opium for Kanryu. Her experiences, though painful, were not on the same scale as Ken-san's, but they were enough to allow her to imagine what he must feel. And perhaps this shared perception was what set her apart from the others. Perhaps it was why Ken-san was so uncharacteristically open with her sometimes. (Well, not completely open, but relatively so, at least.) He didn't feel the need to shield her, to put on the cheerful rurouni mask that he so often did for Kaoru and Yahiko, and to an extent, even Sanosuke. Those three, despite painful pasts and battle experiences, still retained that innocence that Ken-san had long ago lost. Their hands weren't stained with blood, and they retained an unsullied outlook on life, an optimism of the new Meiji era, bought and paid for by the souls of those who paved the way, those such as the Hitokiri Battousai.   
  
Megumi sometimes found consolation in the thought that though she wasn't the one closest to Ken-san's heart, the redhead at least allowed her to see him as his most true self. Not that the carefree rurouni or the battle-hardened Battousai weren't real; they most certainly were. But they were polar manifestations of his deeper, true being, defenses against too much pain. Or, strangely enough, too much happiness.   
  
Megumi understood those defenses, for they were akin to her own. The rurouni and the Battousai were not all that different from the flirtatious Fox Lady or the Reserved Doctor façade that Megumi herself so often employed. And the double-sided fear of pain and joy, this too, she could well understand. Ken-san was afraid that the good times wouldn't last, that his loved ones would be lost. That such losses would most likely be his fault somehow, either by something he did in the present, or more likely, something he'd done in the past. He was afraid to feel too good. He was afraid of the unfamiliar, gut-wrenching fluttery sensation of being assaulted by emotions that, until recently, had been rare and almost alien to him: joy, comfort, trust, acceptance...love.  
  
Those fears allowed a closeness between herself and the rurouni that the others would never know. But those same fears were also what kept Kenshin and Megumi apart, why in her heart she knew Kenshin would never be hers. Even if he had never met Kaoru, it still wouldn't be possible, for he couldn't be happy with a woman who shared a similar past as himself. He wouldn't be able to tolerate looking into her eyes and seeing all his sins mirrored in her own, flung right back at him. Neither of them could ever know peace together. And so, Himura Kenshin sought Kaoru instead for comfort, and Takani Megumi turned to....  
  
She frowned. Who exactly did she turn to? Sanosuke? The thought hung in her mind, making her feel warm and a little scared simultaneously. Odd that she had never actively thought about her relationship with the street fighter before. She'd just taken his presence for granted like she'd done with so many other comforts lately. What exactly was their relationship, she wondered. He annoyed her, certainly. Quite often at that. And yet she missed his company when he wasn't around....  
  
"Megumi-dono?" A worried voice. "Is she all right?"  
  
"Hey! Kitsune, we've arrived. Oi!" Sanosuke was waving his hand in front of her face.   
  
She blinked. "Hai hai, baka! I was just thinking about things. Get your hand out of my face, please."  
  
"Perhaps it's not good to think quite so hard," said the rurouni, concerned.  
  
"Which is exactly why I never do that," said Sanosuke, yawning and stretching under the bright morning sky.   
  
Megumi wondered if Rooster Head set himself up for insults on purpose. He made it so temptingly easy. It took all her self-control not to say anything. And to think she had actually thought him capable of intelligent thought....  
  
Yahiko was once again the first to greet them, and he eagerly took Kenshin by the arm, dragging the rurouni on an abbreviated version of the tour he'd given to Megumi before. They'd ended the tour in Okina's garden, and Ken-san had settled himself comfortably on the porch, enjoying the peace and quiet (except for the hammering, pounding, shouting, and noisy shenanigans of Yahiko and Misao) in the hours before lunch.   
  
Kaoru and Megumi then managed to get Sae's impressive picnic set up on the garden porch, and soon they were all enjoying a fine meal that, indeed, put the previous one to shame. Okina and Hiko joined them soon after, having walked from the Shirobeko (since not everyone had a carriage at their disposal). And soon, Okina, happily drunk on Hiko's sake, was warbling a tune that no one other than himself could recognize. They all tried to look appreciative of the old man's efforts, though it was somewhat difficult to keep from giggling.   
  
It was in the middle of this merriment that Misao suddenly stood up, interrupting Okina's performance. The Oniwaban girl's eyes lit up and she grinned, happy as Megumi had ever seen her. "Aoshi-sama!" she breathed, her excitement nearly palpable. And the rest of them turned to find the former okashira standing alone at the edge of the garden, back straight, face unreadable as ever.   
  
Megumi made an effort not to frown. Shinomori was not one of her favorite people in the world. He had, after all, threatened her with death on more than one occasion. But for the sake of the others, especially the ebullient Misao, she kept her opinions to herself. Secretly, however, she wished he'd remained at the temple or wherever he had been hermitting for the last couple of weeks. He could meditate until the end of the world for all she cared. His presence always made her uncomfortable.   
  
Aoshi joined them for lunch, not quite ignoring all the welcome-back's and the good-to-see-you's that were thrown his way, but not quite acknowledging them either. He sat at a slight distance from the others, not bothering to join in the conversation. Megumi had to admit, though, that for all his stony silence, the man's expression seemed softer somehow, a little less glacial than the last time she'd seen him. And the obvious joy his presence brought to Misao was impossible to ignore. For that, and for the fact that he had, at the very end, helped Ken-san in his fight against Shishio...for those reasons, Megumi could consider forgiving him. Someday. When she was ready. But not quite today.   
  
After lunch, an exhausted Kenshin napped in the sunlight on a futon they'd brought out from one of the rooms upstairs. Megumi and Kaoru set about quietly cleaning up the remains of the picnic. Shinomori-oddly enough-stopped to speak briefly with Sanosuke while the others got back to work. Megumi couldn't help overhearing bits of their conversation. They spoke in low tones, but didn't seem to be actively trying to hide their conversation from anyone. So Megumi felt no guilt for eavesdropping.   
  
"Have you told them?" She heard Shinomori ask in his cool monotone.   
  
"No, not yet," said Sanosuke, glancing her way, looking slightly embarrassed.   
  
"Tell us what?" asked Megumi, unable to keep silent any longer.  
  
Sanosuke turned to look at her, his brown eyes frowning, looking as if he'd rather be anywhere else on the planet than where he was at the present. Shinomori's face was its typical blank slate.  
  
"Yes, tell us what?" Kaoru joined in.  
  
"I spoke with one of the police officers this morning when I was getting the carriage," said Sanosuke slowly. "It seems someone broke into their armory yesterday-"  
  
"What?!?" Kaoru dropped the cup she'd been cleaning.  
  
Sanosuke cleared his throat uncomfortably. "And, uh, they think it was Shishio's men," he muttered, barely intelligibly.  
  
"Are you sure?" asked Megumi.  
  
"Our sources confirm it," answered Shinomori's cold voice. So, thought Megumi, the former okashira had been doing a little more than just meditating lately.   
  
It figured. It damn well figured. It figured that Shinomori didn't come over to lunch just for a social call. It figured that Hiko and Okina felt it necessary for safety's sake to join them at the Aoiya. It figured that Sanosuke (Baka. Baka!) and the others in the know hadn't had the heart to say anything sooner.   
  
Megumi closed her eyes, willing herself to remain calm, to not throw a fit of hysterics right then and there.   
  
The attack by Shishio's men was imminent, then. They had wondered what the enemy was planning, had lived in constant fear of assault. And now, finally....   
  
Finally, it was just a matter of time.   
==============================  
  
Author's Note: I realize that nothing much has happened in this story, and the characters just sit around thinking a lot. Heh. I do intend to write some action soon. May I say that I was tickled to finally be able to add a few "de gozaru's" in this fic? I know some people find them annoying, but heck, it just doesn't seem like Kenshin without them. 


	9. Chapter 09 Division & Dissemblance

RECOVERY: Chapter 9 - Division & Dissemblance  
By Haku Baikou  
03.Apr.2003  
==============================  
  
The night was heavy with the promise of rain. It was almost tangible, the pressure one felt, the faint tingling sensation of the skin, the anticipation of violence in the skies. Megumi stood in the doorway of the Shirobeko, the cool and damp evening air a welcome change from the oppressive heat of the lamps inside. The wind was a living thing tonight, deceptively light and capricious as it played about her ankles, lapping at the edges of her kimono. It wouldn't stay that way, of course, this wind. It would soon become a creature to be feared, a wild force to keep folks at home, safe within the confines of sturdy, sensible walls. A storm would rage tonight.   
  
The streets were empty, an unusual thing so early in the evening. There were no brightly lit lanterns lining the roads of the market district tonight. There were none of the usual sounds that suffused the main thoroughfare: no clinking of cookware, no murmured conversations, no thready melodies from street performers.   
  
"It's not safe to be standing out here, Kitsune," said Sagara Sanosuke as he joined her in the doorway, his eyes coolly scanning the shadowed street. "You oughtta come inside. We have to close this door."  
  
His expression would brook no argument. And besides, he was right. It really was foolish of her to be standing there, but she had needed to do so, had needed to get out even if it was only as far as the doorway. For in the past four days, Megumi and the others had all been on the alert, had been tensed, ready for an attack.   
  
And none came. Nothing at all happened. It was enough to drive a person mad.  
  
"I wish they'd do something already," she muttered and made a little noise of frustration as she went back inside. The waiting really was getting to her.   
  
With the exception of Hiko-san who had disappeared earlier in the day, they were now all gathered at the largest table in the corner of the restaurant. The Shirobeko had closed early in the afternoon, and Sae had sent all her workers and family members home. The woman's squinty smile seemed a little strained as she quietly served tea to everyone before taking a seat herself. Despite Sae's efforts to keep everyone comfortable, it was stifling in the room, and tempers were running short. The days of inactivity had begun to wear on them all. Okina-san had prohibited anyone from working at the Aoiya since the day after the news of the police armory break-in. Guns had been reported missing. Not just swords and spears, but guns. Far too easy for them all to be picked off by one lone assailant if they all continued working outside.  
  
It was bad enough to be pent up indoors, not knowing when an attack would come. Worse yet was the frustration of not even knowing who exactly their enemy was, and who the true target would be. The obvious answer would be Kenshin, of course. But Okina and the others were far too savvy a group to focus only on the obvious. The Aoiya, the Shirobeko, the police headquarters, Kyoto itself. They were all at risk. All possible targets. And so they all hovered about the large map of the city Okina had produced, discussing possible plans for defense and possible escape routes, hoping to cover every scenario that could occur.   
  
Kenshin himself remained strangely aloof from the planning despite his potentially central role in the conflict to come. He'd become increasingly withdrawn in the last few days, his characteristic reserve now back in full force. The rurouni politely fended off their questing inquiries with smiles and murmured assurances, but the smiles seemed forced, and his eyes were troubled. And he looked tired, thought Megumi in concern. So very tired, as he sat in the corner, legs folded before him, his sword resting against his shoulder. His face was lowered, eyes closed, expression as subdued as the dark blue gi he wore.   
  
Megumi wasn't sure which would have been more disturbing from Ken-san: intense interest in Okina's plans, or his current apparent indifference. She looked over to Sano and Kaoru who seemed to share her concern. An actively participating Kenshin would have worried them enough, for they knew he was too weak still to join in on the fight. This closed-off, silent Kenshin, however, was even more unsettling.   
  
In the past, his reticence had always presaged danger. He'd kept his troubles to himself lest he worry his friends. But the less Ken-san spoke of a pressing matter, the more worried his friends became. They were left to speculate on what the rurouni was wont to do. Would he keep out of the way like everyone hoped he would? Unlikely. Would he try to fight? Absolutely. Or would he consider something foolhardy (but oh-so Kenshin-like) such as offering himself up to the enemy in the hopes they would be appeased and spare everyone else? Megumi hoped not.  
  
Kaoru took a cup of tea over to Kenshin and knelt before him, her large blue eyes bright as she bent low for a better view of the rurouni's face. "Kenshin?" she said gently, as she offered him the cup.  
  
His face lifted. "Arigatou, Kaoru-dono," came the quiet reply as he took the drink from her. His smile for her seemed genuine, a rare but welcome site these last few days.   
  
A flash of lightening through the window slats followed by a low rumble of thunder brought Megumi out of her musings. The soft patter of raindrops began, hesitantly at first, then gradually increasing in volume until they blurred into a constant murmur. The wind picked up slightly, it's soft whispering transforming into a higher pitched moan. The storm was brewing, building in strength.  
  
A sudden, frantic knock at the door made everyone jump as all eyes snapped towards the source of the sound. The enemy wouldn't do something as ridiculous as announce themselves by knocking. But still, they were not expecting anyone to arrive, and anything out of the ordinary tonight was to be treated with the highest suspicion. As Sanosuke went to see who it was, Megumi had to remind herself to breathe. She fingered the small knife hidden in her obi, trying to keep a volatile fear at bay.   
  
It was the police.   
  
Two young officers, bedraggled, wet from the rain, and very out of breath. Megumi recognized one of them as the dark haired young man who'd driven her carriage to the Aoiya.   
  
"Sagara-san," said the dark haired young officer. "Is everyone here all right?"  
  
Sanosuke frowned. "Yeah, we're all fine, Yoshi. Why? What's happened?" He let the two officers in. They looked nervous as they joined them at the table.   
  
"We were sent to get you out of here. We have to leave. The Shirobeko isn't safe."  
  
"What's happened?" repeated Sanosuke.  
  
"There have been multiple attacks throughout the city. They're fighting at the police station right now, and we've received reports of activity around the Aoiya and Arai-san's place-"  
  
"The sword smith?" asked Misao alarmed. "What's he got to do with all of this?"  
  
"Well, I don't know." The young officer shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry, but that's what I've heard. The attackers might be coming here as well. There aren't enough officers to man all the positions. We're outnumbered. I'm afraid Goro and I are the only ones that could be spared."   
  
"Odd," said Okina frowning. "My people have reported no activity so far."   
  
"Tell that to the enemy," said the young officer. "They're shooting at the station with our own guns!"  
  
"This is just what we were afraid of," said Okina unhappily. "Multiple attacks at multiple sites. We can't split up. That's probably just what they would want us to do."  
  
"But we can't stay here either! We can't just do nothing," said Yahiko.  
  
"That's right. Someone's gotta go help the Arais at least!" cried Misao.  
  
"Shishou is with Arai-dono," said Kenshin from the corner. Everyone turned to look at the rurouni.   
  
"Kenshin," said Kaoru in mild surprise. Kaoru and Sano looked at each other. What else hadn't Ken-san told them all?  
  
"Sessha asked him to go. He agreed it was best."  
  
Okina blinked. "That's one place we don't have to worry about then," he said thoughtfully. "But the police need our help, and I'd hate to leave the Aoiya unwatched. We've worked too hard on the repairs for it to be threatened now. I had hoped we wouldn't have to split up, but we may not have a choice."  
  
"I will see to the Aoiya," Shinomori quietly volunteered.  
  
"Aoshi-sama," breathed Misao, a complex flurry of emotions flitting across the girl's face.   
  
Okina hesitated, as if unsure if Shinomori was up to the task. The former okashira had recovered from his wounds since the battle with Shishio. But they all knew Aoshi had been meditating all this time and hadn't taken up his sword for any practice in weeks. And then there was the matter of his betrayal. Forgiveness was one thing. Easy enough to do. But renewed trust. That was more difficult by far.   
  
"Take Misao, Kurojou, and Masukami with you," said Okina finally with a brief look at each of them. "And for pity's sake, take care of yourselves. Should you find yourselves overwhelmed, don't hesitate to retreat. The Aoiya is our home, yes, but in the end...." The old man shook his head. "It's just a building."  
  
Shinomori nodded slightly and turned to leave. Misao followed him with a hurried glance back at everyone, her eyes wide and her demeanor unusually subdued. The other two Oniwabanshu members quickly followed, and in short order, the four of them were out of the door and gone.   
  
Just like that, thought Megumi. It was all happening too fast. One moment they were all together. The next, they were scattering to the winds. She wondered at how they could leave so quickly like that, without a proper goodbye. The situation called for speed, she knew, but the suddenness of everything was dizzying.   
  
"You all right, Kitsune?" a murmured question from behind. Sano was looking at her strangely.  
  
"It's all so fast," she said.  
  
"It often is during a fight," was all he said as his eyes looked over to Okina and the others again.  
  
The young officer and Okina were talking again, Okina insisting that Yoshi take Sae-san to a safe place away from the potential fighting. The young officer was equally insistent that his job was to stay here, to help defend the Shirobeko.   
  
"I'll be all right," said Sae diffidently.   
  
"If the fighting gets too rough, we may not be able to keep an eye on you at all times, Sae-san," said Kaoru gently. "We have to get you out of here."  
  
"And Megumi-dono as well," added Ken-san softly from the corner.   
  
Megumi stared at the rurouni in shocked betrayal, and Ken-san met her gaze unflinching. The thought that she might be separated from her friends had never occurred to Megumi. "Iya!" she cried. "I stay here with all of you!"  
  
Sano frowned. "Kenshin's right, Kitsune. It's too dangerous for you here."  
  
"I'm a physician. I could be useful!"  
  
"You'd be a burden," said Sano, his eyes suddenly hard. "You can't fight, Megumi. You were almost killed that day in the street-  
  
"You may need me. I have to stay here!"   
  
A part of herself couldn't believe what she was staying. She had been terrified of the on-coming fighting all night, had wished over and over again that she were somewhere else. If someone had asked her fifteen minutes ago if she wanted to stay or not, she honestly wouldn't have known the answer. But now, under pressure, her answer was all too clear. She didn't want to be separated from everyone. Couldn't even imagine waiting out the rest of this night alone.   
  
"She has a point," said Kaoru. "Megumi-san's skills wouldn't be much use unless she were with us."   
  
Megumi looked at the girl gratefully, surprised that Kaoru was the one who took her side. Ken-san's face was unreadable. Sano remained as he was, looking at Megumi sternly. He wasn't backing down. Neither would Megumi.  
  
"Surojou, Oumime," Okina broke in finally. Megumi waited, breath held, for the old man's decision. "Take Sae-san to the usual place. Stay there until you hear from us. It may be a while."  
  
"Hai," said the two Oniwabanshu members as they ushered Sae to safety.   
  
Relief washed over Megumi as she realized she wouldn't be separated. If the situation hadn't been so serious, she would have embraced Okina-san and smirked at the Rooster Head.  
  
"What now?" asked Yoshi quietly, his face grave. "Goro and I can wait outside. Keep watch on the roof," the young policeman volunteered.   
  
Megumi looked around the room. Their numbers had dwindled down to eight now, including the two policemen and herself. Megumi was normally confident in her friends' ability to fight, but that was under ideal circumstances. Right now, they weren't in top condition, any of them. Kaoru and Yahiko would be all right, but Okina was still recovering from his brush with death after fighting Shinomori, Sano still couldn't fight with his right hand, and Ken-san.... Megumi swallowed. Ken-san still needed help walking up a flight of stairs. His side was still leaking blood. And the rest of his wounds, though freshly healed, still consisted of delicate scar tissue that would take months to reach full strength. Of anyone, they should have sent Ken-san off with Sae. But the rurouni would never allow that, they all knew. He would never allow his friends to fight for him while he was taken alone to safety.   
  
Okina, who had been firing off orders with unquestioned authority all evening, suddenly turned to the rurouni sitting quietly in the corner. "The police need our help. Perhaps we should join them there. Hopefully if we leave this place, the Shirobeko would be spared any damage. What do you think, Himura-kun? Let's all of us go from here."  
  
"Okina-san," said the young officer Yoshi, eyes wide and voice hushed. "We would be honored to accompany you all to the station. Your assistance there would be greatly appreciated."   
  
Kenshin didn't respond. He merely stared at the floor, a puzzled expression on his face.   
  
"Kenshin," said Kaoru. "Do you think we should go?"  
  
He shook his head and blinked. "Iya."   
  
They all knew Kenshin too well not to trust his instincts. Something wasn't right.  
  
"What is it?" asked Sano.   
  
The rurouni's violet eyes settled on the young police officer.   
  
"What." The young man looked at his fellow officer and then back at Kenshin in confusion.   
  
"What, Yoshi?" said Sano, frowning. His voice conveyed confusion and disbelief, but the street fighter's stance tensed as he turned to regard the young officer.   
  
"I don't understand," stammered Yoshi. "What's going on?"  
  
"Sessha should have sensed it the other day during the carriage ride," said Kenshin, his eyes wide. "But sessha wasn't feeling well...." (Of course not. Not after being rushed headlong down the stairs by the Rooster Head, thought Megumi.)  
  
"Himura-kun, what are you saying?" asked Okina sharply.  
  
"Okina-dono, this man is not who he claims to be," said Kenshin as he tightened his grip on his sword and slowly stood up.   
  
The look Okina turned on the young officer chilled Megumi's blood. In the last few weeks she'd seen many faces of the old Oniwabanshu spy. A cheerful inebriate, an enthusiastic planner of wild parties, a devious cheater at Go, and lately, a brilliant mastermind. But she had, until now, never seen Okina the warrior, the deadly soldier who had earned the respect and admiration of a multitude of men including one brilliantly cold Shinomori Aoshi.   
  
"Who are you then?" the old spy asked the young officer. Megumi would have never though such an icy tone could come of the old man's normally warm voice.   
  
The bewildered look melted from young Yoshi's face as he straightened and threw them all a defiant glare. A secretive little smile formed about his lips.   
  
"Sano!" cried Kenshin suddenly.   
  
Too late.   
  
Without warning, the young policeman had suddenly pulled Officer Goro towards himself in a flurry of furious motion. And before Sano could reach them, Yoshi had a pistol to his friend's neck.   
  
"Kuso!" hissed Sanosuke, freezing in mid-step.   
  
"Yoshi!" cried Goro, eyes wide, nostrils flaring as he stared in disbelief at the gun under his chin. "Yoshi, what in hell are you doing?"  
  
There was nothing left of the eager young carriage driver in Yoshi's face now. His countenance was grim as he dragged his friend steadily back towards the door. "My apologies, Goro-san." Genuine regret suffused his voice. "You were never meant to get involved in this, but you had to come with me tonight, didn't you. So you're stuck in the middle of this now, and I'm afraid I will not hesitate to kill you if need be."   
  
"Why are you doing this?" asked Kenshin softly. "Sessha would have never figured you for one of Shishio's men."  
  
"What would you know of it?..." Yoshi voice hardened as his eyes met Kenshin's, "...Battousai!" He nearly spat the word. "You understand nothing of what Lord Shishio stood for! And you understand nothing of me."  
  
Ken-san's brow furrowed in confusion. "But who are you?"  
  
The young man had the door opened now, the howling wind rushing through, leaves and rain littering the floorboards. He paused, regarding Kenshin, expression glacial. His eyes glinted in the semi-darkness and the corner of his mouth twitched in the hint of a sneer.   
  
"Komagata Yoshi," he said simply. And with that, he pushed his friend Goro roughly to the floor before disappearing through the doorway to the storm outside.   
  
Sano and Yahiko made to give chase, but were reigned back by an abrupt "Matte!" from Kenshin.   
  
The rurouni was staring at the empty doorway, face drained white as a sheet. Megumi looked to Kaoru who shook her head slightly, as in the dark as Megumi regarding the young man's identity. Sano, however, frowned knowingly, and for lack of a nearby target, struck the nearest wall in frustration with his left fist.   
  
"Who is he, Himura-kun?" Okina asked in the stillness. "I've seen him at the station myself. I was sure he was with the police."  
  
"He is with police," confirmed Goro from the floor, rubbing at a sore spot on his shoulder. He looked at them all apologetically. "But I guess he has other loyalties as well. Sumimasen. I had no idea...."  
  
Okina was still staring at Ken-san. "Why did you stop them from chasing after him?"  
  
"Yeah," said Yahiko as he helped young Officer Goro to his feet. "Why are we letting the guy go?"  
  
"We are not letting him go, Yahiko," said Kenshin mildly as he laid a hand upon the boy's shoulder. He'd regained his composure quickly, but his voice sounded more strained than ever. "But Officer Yoshi isn't alone. There are several armed guards waiting outside."  
  
"What?" Sano swore under his breath. "Why didn't you say something before, Kenshin?"  
  
"Sessha didn't know before."  
  
"But the others! Misao, Sae..." Kaoru broke off, looking at Okina, her eyes wide. The old man's brows were knotted, his lips thinned into a tight line as he looked out the windows, unseeing, worrying about the fate of his people.   
  
"Sessha doesn't believe they were attacked," said the rurouni slowly. "Sessha would have sensed something so obvious. And we heard no sounds of struggle."   
  
Ken-san seemed as puzzled as the rest of them as to what was going on. But Megumi was somewhat reassured by his words. She didn't sense any deception in Ken-san's voice. He wasn't speaking just to be kind, to spare them worry. He seemed to genuinely believe the others were all right, that they had got out safe without ambush. Why the enemy had allowed them to go was a mystery, but Megumi had a feeling none of them would know the answer to that until this night was all over.  
  
"What do we do now, Ken-san?" she asked, her voice sounding small to her own ears. "We can't stay here forever."  
  
"Go out the back way?" Sanosuke asked.  
  
"They'll be expecting that as well," said Okina.  
  
"But maybe not so soon," said Sanosuke. He shrugged. "Is there any other choice?"  
  
The room was silent save for the creaking of the walls from the wind.  
  
"Let's go then," said Okina.   
  
And that was that.   
  
"Stay close," Sanosuke murmured to her as they moved through to the back door by the kitchens. Megumi nodded. There was no need for the street fighter to caution her. She was terrified, was surprised her legs could still support her as she hurried with her friends into the darkness outside.  
  
The wind was a frenzied creature, tearing at them as if it too bore a personal grudge against them. Megumi tucked her hair inside the collar of her kimono and held a hand to her face, trying to shield her eyes from water and debris. The rain bore down mercilessly, soaking them all within seconds after they'd made it outside. It was difficult to see anything, but as far as they could tell, the small street was apparently deserted. At least, no attack had come as yet. Okina led them, instinctively sticking to the shadows, avoiding the scant light that spilled from the windows of nearby buildings.   
  
Megumi kept her head down, and with one hand clutched tightly on Sanosuke's sleeve, stumbled after the street fighter, trying her best not to slow him down. She could see the faint outlines of her friends ahead, a blur of Yahiko's yellow gi, Kaoru's indigo ribbon. They were moving quickly, but it still felt agonizingly slow to her. Too slow. Too exposed.   
  
She wondered how Ken-san was holding up. He wouldn't last long in this torrent, she feared. She squinted, trying to find the rurouni's slight form in the distance. Sure enough, she saw that Ken-san had paused, half collapsing against a wall, his head bowed as he tried to catch his breath. Kaoru and Yahiko hesitated, but the rurouni pushed firmly at the girl's shoulder. "Iya, don't stop, Kaoru-dono. Please keep moving. Sessha will catch up." And when she didn't move. "Yahiko, make her move!" he gasped.  
  
"Aa," the boy said, eyes wide. He tugged at Kaoru's arm. "Come on!"  
  
"Go, Jou-chan," said Sanosuke as he and Megumi caught up with them. "I'll carry the idiot if I have to, so don't worry. Keep going!"  
  
Kaoru finally nodded and hurried after Okina and Goro with Yahiko in tow. No bickering or arguing now as Yahiko and Kaoru walked hand in hand, supporting each other as they staggered onward. Megumi wasn't the only one having a difficult time moving in the storm.   
  
"Kitsune..."  
  
"I'll be all right on my own," she replied to the street fighter's unasked question. He nodded at her, but still frowned, not entirely reassured.  
  
Megumi blinked the rain out of her eyes and hurried after the retreating forms of Kaoru and Yahiko. She kept one hand on the wall next to her, trying not to lose her way in the darkness, while at the same time avoiding the light. The wind was a constant torment, relentless as it whipped at her kimono and chilled her to her bones. Her hands and feet were becoming numb. The ground was slick, the footing treacherous, and it was all she could do to remain upright, to keep walking.   
  
She thought she heard a sound through the storm. She looked up in time to see a glint of metal off in the distance, and suddenly there were muffled cries of warning from her friends. Megumi couldn't make out the words, but she instinctively huddled against the wall just as a white and blue blur struck her from the side, forcing down to the ground. She would have screamed had a hand not covered her mouth, and she turned to see that the mass that had hit her was Sano with Kenshin.  
  
"Keep your head down!" hissed the street fighter beside her, his hand on her back. Megumi barely had a moment to nod.  
  
And then the gunfire began.   
  
==============================  
To be continued. 


	10. Chapter 10 Reckoning

RECOVERY: Chapter 10 - Reckoning  
By Haku Baikou  
11.Apr.2003  
==============================  
  
The cold air sizzled with motion.   
  
Walls shattered, the cacophony of splintering wood clashing with the shrill howl of the wind, the sibilant hiss of the rain. Terrified, Megumi buried her face in her sleeve, senses assaulted by the deafening echoes and the acrid tang of gunpowder. She flinched and stifled a scream as a nearby barrel burst in an explosion of water. Shredded bits of roofing rained down as she huddled against the building behind her.  
  
She sensed movement behind from her friends, but as she turned her head to look, Sanosuke yelled for her to keep down. She gladly complied. She vaguely heard Ken-san calling for Kaoru and Yahiko, and to her relief, both of them replied from somewhere up ahead, or what she thought was ahead. It was difficult to tell. Her sense of direction was jumbled, her bearings in question as she suffered the onslaught of the enemy's guns.  
  
She'd never seen combat before, had never in her wildest nightmares imagined what it would be like. Her battles had all been on a much simpler playing field, had been contests of will, games of deceit fought with intellect and subterfuge. This devastating physical assault, lacking in subtlety, was something she was utterly unprepared to face. As she winced from yet another projectile from gods-knew-where, she mentally berated herself for thinking she could handle this, for refusing to be left behind by her friends. She really wished she were with Sae right now. Megumi didn't belong here. As Sanosuke had said. She was a burden.  
  
She yelped at a light touch on her shoulder and looked up to see Yahiko beside her, mouthing inaudible words through the din and signaling for her to follow. Kaoru was just behind him, crouched low, moving quickly behind a pile of crates. How had they managed to move to where she was? How had they made it without being shredded to pieces? Megumi reached out a trembling arm and the boy grasped her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.   
  
She forced herself to move despite instincts that screamed at her to hunker down, to make herself as small as possible behind the stand of barrels and try to disappear. She bit her lip and willed her feet to move as the boy led her, pulling her along, traveling in spurts from one sheltering spot to another. As she moved she realized that Okina and Goro were behind her. She had no idea where they'd appeared from, but she was grateful for their presence. She felt less exposed.   
  
It was most likely less than a minute before they reached the doorway of the abandoned building Sanosuke had selected, but it seemed like an age, a lifetime. How they had found the entrance was beyond Megumi, but she stumbled in after the boy, and with a final burst of energy, followed him in a flat run as they entered and crossed an empty courtyard to the building deeper within the complex. She finally collapsed in a miserable heap when they'd passed a second, inner entrance, and the boy motioned that it was safe for her to stop. Megumi buried her face in her hands, trying to still her shaking shoulders and to slow her gasping breaths.   
  
The sound of gunfire was blessedly muffled, and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, her surroundings began to take form. They were in an abandoned warehouse of some kind. The stagnant air was musty and damp. The floorboards creaked. Tables, chairs, rows of empty shelves, scattered crates spilling moldy straw. The shapes slowly became apparent, dimly illuminated by the nearby lights of adjacent buildings that filtered through rows of high windows lining the warehouse walls.   
  
All of her friends were present, to Megumi's great relief. Sanosuke crouched by the doorway, intently looking across the courtyard to the outer entrance. Ken-san sat propped against the wall beside him. Okina and Goro were on the opposite side, likewise keeping watch. And Yahiko and Kaoru were further back with Megumi, huddled behind a fallen table. She couldn't see any of their features clearly, but they seemed unhurt for the most part.   
  
"Was anybody hit?" asked Okina softly, mirroring her own concerns.  
  
Megumi was thankful to hear only negative replies.   
  
"Megumi, are you all right?" asked Kaoru softly in concern. Megumi looked up at the girl and realized that she alone had not replied to Okina's question.   
  
"Hai, I'm fine." She said, surprised that her voice was fairly steady. She looked at the girl before her in newfound respect. Kaoru--frivolous, silly little Kaoru--was utterly composed and calm, while Megumi, who was normally unruffled by matters, struggled to keep from falling apart. "How do you do it?" asked Megumi quietly. "Aren't you frightened at all?"  
  
"Terrified," answered the girl. "Scared out of my mind." From the tone of her voice, Megumi could tell that Kaoru was smiling.   
  
Megumi made a desperate little sound that passed for a laugh and hugged her knees close.  
  
"Is there anything we can use in here?" asked Sanosuke.   
  
It took Megumi a moment to realize he was talking about weapons. She looked around and heard a soft shuffling as Kaoru and Yahiko quietly explored the room.   
  
The girl's voice was obviously disappointed. "I'm afraid there's nothing here. Maybe a few table legs for--"  
  
"Battousai!" A voice hailed them from beyond the external set of doors.   
  
They tensed, waiting apprehensively for whatever would come next. The guns had stopped, Megumi finally realized, and an eerie silence descended upon the courtyard. The high walls of the adjacent buildings, and a line of giant trees behind the warehouse served to keep the small courtyard relatively sheltered from the wind that raged through the streets outside. However, those structures served nothing in diminishing the rain. The continuous patter of large droplets on muddied stone was all that could be heard from the courtyard.   
  
Megumi squinted, trying to see out into the darkness beyond the doorframe.   
  
"Battousai!" the call repeated.   
  
Her heartbeat quickened as she made out dozens of shadowed figures entering the outer doorway and spreading along both sides of the raised porch surrounding the courtyard. They stopped about half way across, hiding behind support beams and crouching behind piles of crates.  
  
"What do you want with Himura-san?" Okina called from the doorway.  
  
"We want to speak to Battousai! We will not shoot if he comes out!"  
  
"Bullshit!" came Sanosuke's heated retort. "What the fuck was all that back there then? Gion Festival fireworks? You're a month early!"  
  
"Sano...." Ken-san's voice held a hint of gentle reproach.  
  
Muffled orders were barked, and a sense of shuffling and unease was obvious as the enemy soldiers--to Megumi's amazed disbelief--abruptly lowered their guns. Among the men under the shelter of the porch awnings, lamps were lit and set on high poles, the flame light flickering from the damp air and the little bit of wind that still made it through to the yard. Amid the half-circle of light, a lone figure emerged, standing quietly in the center of the courtyard, silhouetted by the glare of the light surrounding him. He carried no gun and seemed to be armed only with a sword.  
  
"That was to keep you from running away," said the figure. Megumi recognized it as Komagata Yoshi's voice. "Do you truly think you'd all have escaped unscathed if we were aiming to kill? We want Battousai." The voice was cold and hard. "The rest of you are irrelevant. If he comes out here, I promise you, the rest of you will not be harmed."  
  
In the darkness of their room, Ken-san stirred.  
  
"Kenshin, what the hell are you doing?" whispered the street fighter fiercely as the rurouni began to get up, leaning on the wall for support.  
  
"Sessha must--"  
  
"Iya! Kenshin! Are you crazy? Don't you even think of going out there," the street fighter cut him off. He grabbed the rurouni by the arm.   
  
"Let go, Sano." Kenshin pointedly pried the street fighters fingers away, and ignoring the younger man's muttered curses, managed to stand on his own and take a step towards the door. He halted when Kaoru--moving faster than Megumi had ever seen her--suddenly interposed herself between the rurouni and the doorway.   
  
"Don't, Kenshin..." she said, placing her hands lightly on his chest.  
  
"Kaoru-dono. Sessha must speak with Komagata-dono." His voice was gentle, but the certainty in his tone would tolerate no argument.  
  
"If you must, then we're all coming with you, Ken-san!" Megumi blinked. The words were out of her mouth before she'd even realized she what she would do. But once she had said them, her course was perfectly clear to her, and she'd stood up and moved now to join Kaoru in blocking Ken-san's way.  
  
"Yeah," chimed in Yahiko. "We're all going, and you can't stop us."  
  
Kenshin looked at them, his expression unreadable in the darkness. But the set of his shoulders changed subtly, and Megumi knew they had won. As Yahiko had said, the rurouni was in no condition to stop them all from coming along.  
  
They filed cautiously out the door then, standing uneasily along the main porch of the warehouse, facing the ring of shadowed men who surrounded them. At some unseen signal, several of the torch bearers came towards them, lighting the remaining half of the courtyard so that finally, features could be determined in the golden light.   
  
Komagata Yoshi regarded them silently from where he stood. He studied them for a long time, his eyes dipping briefly from their faces to waist level. Megumi followed the man's line of vision downward. She tensed and looked quickly up at the rurouni in concern.  
  
Kenshin was bleeding. A deep ruby stain from the unhealed wound in his side darkened the rain-soaked fabric of his blue gi and seeped into the grey of his hakama. A low hiss from Sanosuke and a quiet gasp from Kaoru told Megumi that they too had noticed Ken-san's condition. Kenshin, seemingly ignorant of his friends' concern, stepped away from them to slowly walk into the ring of torchlight and stand before Komagata. He remained silent, allowing the younger man to speak first.   
  
"A reckoning is in order, Battousai," said the young man quietly. "We," he indicated his fellow comrades in a broad sweep of his arm, "are what remains of Lord Shishio's army. We seek vengeance for a crime, Battousai. In our eyes, your life is forfeit."  
  
No, Megumi thought, helpless to do anything but watch. When would it ever end, she wondered. Over and over again, Ken-san had been forced to deal with ghosts from his past. And now, so soon after his last battle, before he even had a chance to recover, it was already starting again. Once again, someone from Ken-san's past was out for revenge, and once again, the rurouni was forced to figure out a way to deal with the challenger without killing the challenger or allowing himself to be killed.  
  
"Shishio Makoto had to be stopped," said Kenshin softly. "Sessha had hoped it could be done without his death."  
  
Komagata Yoshi arched an eyebrow.   
  
"Whoever said anything about Lord Shishio's death? My men and I are here for my sister. Komagata Yumi."  
  
Ken-san blinked. And for the first time, Megumi saw that his composure wavered. "What?" he asked faintly.  
  
"You killed my sister, you heartless fiend," said the young man, his tone deceptively matter-of-fact. "And you will answer for it, Battousai, with your life."  
  
Megumi stared. They had been wrong. They had all been so very wrong. All this time, when they thought the enemy was out for vengeance in the name of their Lord Shishio, the true source of their fury was the death of a single woman, this Komagata Yumi that Kenshin had spoken of. But Ken-san hadn't killed the woman, thought Megumi in confusion. Lord Shishio had.  
  
"Komagata-dono, sessha did not kill your sister," the rurouni said, frowning.  
  
"Don't bother lying, Battousai. It won't help you now," said the young man in disgust. His eyes narrowed. "For years, we dreamed of Lord Shishio's new Japan. For months, we trained at breakneck pace to make that dream a reality. You took all of that away from us, Battousai, in the span of one afternoon.   
  
"You took away my dreams. Strange as it may seem, I can accept that. It is a painful and difficult truth, but I can accept it as part of Lord Shishio's teachings. If you're strong you live. If you're weak, you die. Acceptable consequences in your fight with Lord Shishio. He lost. Therefore, as much as I dislike thinking it, he must have been the weaker man."  
  
Yoshi drew his sword.  
  
"But you also took away my family that day. And that, I cannot accept. My sister's death was not necessary in determining the final outcome of the battle. What use was there in killing her? She was an innocent bystander! You couldn't even have used her death as 'food' as Lord Shishio so often put it. Her death was meaningless!"   
  
The young man's voice shook with emotion. "For that reason. For that reason alone... In the last twenty-one days, I have thought of nothing but destroying you!"  
  
"Wait a minute! You've got it all wrong!" Sanosuke clenched his fists in outrage. "Kenshin didn't kill Yumi! He would never kill a defenseless woman!"  
  
"No? He's done it in the past," the young man retorted.   
  
Megumi gasped. Sanosuke blinked at that and looked over to the rurouni. From the corner of her eye, Megumi could see that Kaoru too was looking at Kenshin in shocked disbelief. Ken-san's head was lowered, and he made no sign of denying Komagata's claim. A part of Megumi knew that it was highly likely Ken-san had killed women in his past as hitokiri, and that she should not be surprised by such a revelation, but to hear it proclaimed publicly made her blood run cold.  
  
"That doesn't matter," resumed Sanosuke quietly. His voice was subdued, but he still retained the stubborn set of his jaw that spoke volumes: There was no way the street fighter would back down.   
  
"All I know is I was there. I saw the fight. And your very own Lord Shishio was the one who killed Yumi, not Kenshin!"  
  
Yoshi's eyes blazed at those words. There was an angered muttering among the men behind him.  
  
"Shishio? Shishio killed my sister, the woman he loved more than anything." He said flatly in disbelief, his voice low and dangerous. "You expect me to believe that."  
  
"Yeah, I do! And if you don't believe me, I'll say it again. With this!" Sanosuke's hand clenched into a fist.   
  
"Baka!" whispered Megumi fiercely to the street fighter. "You're only making them more angry. And you can't use that hand yet!"  
  
But Sanosuke wasn't listening. The street fighter was already pushing back his sleeves, preparing for a fight.  
  
"Stay out of this, boy," warned a new voice. "This has nothing to do with you."  
  
"You're threatening my friend. It has everything to do with me!" said the street fighter, as a stern, grey-haired man approached and stepped into the light, stopping a few paces back from Komagata.   
  
All eyes turned to the newcomer as he lifted his gun and pointed it at the street fighter. Megumi hadn't noticed him before, but he must have been standing quietly in the shadows the whole time.   
  
"We are not without honor," said the grey haired man. "Our fight is only with the Hitokiri Battousai. We do not wish any harm upon the rest of you. You fought us well at the Aoiya, and you won. We do not dispute that outcome, and we have no wish for another battle. Komagata-san will fight Battousai alone. One on one, in an honorable duel. We are not villains, despite what you believe. We are willing to be fair."  
  
Sano bristled, barely restraining himself. "What's fair about it?" he growled. "Kenshin's bleeding and barely able to stand, and you're going to make him fight a duel?"  
  
"Considering the hitokiri's reputation," said the old man grimly, "I'd say the odds are fairly even this way."  
  
The members of Shishio's former army stirred restlessly behind Komagata and the newcomer. Megumi realized of a sudden, that despite Kenshin's condition, Shishio's men were afraid of him. Komagata's hand rested on his sword as he waited, allowing the older man to speak for him. Megumi noted that despite the young man's apparent confidence, his grip on the hilt of his weapon was unnecessarily tight. The young man's knuckles were white."  
  
"Well, Battousai?" asked Yoshi. "Do you accept our terms?"  
  
"No."   
  
Everyone looked at the rurouni in surprise.  
  
Komagata's expression hardened, his mouth thinning to a tight line. "Kitada-san," he said to the grey haired man.  
  
The older man made a barely perceptible hand signal, and suddenly, all the men took up their guns once more, and pointed them at Megumi and her friends.   
  
"Yoshi!" protested officer Goro. Megumi started. She had all but forgotten the other young policeman's presence behind her. "Yoshi, what are you doing?"  
  
Yoshi looked at his friend and frowned with what seemed like true regret, but he made no move to explain his actions or to retract his order.   
  
"You have no choice in the matter, Battousai," said the grey haired warrior, Kitada. "We were hoping you'd fight us of your own free will, but if this is what it takes for our revenge, then this is what it takes. You will fight us."  
  
Kenshin bowed his head and drew the sakabatou.   
  
The rurouni made one last appeal. "What Sanosuke said was true, Komagata-dono. There was a man, a follower of Lord Shishio, who witnessed the fight. He had brown hair and wore western clothing. Sessha suspects he survived the destruction of Shishio's lair. Have you not spoken with him? Did he not tell you what truly happened?"  
  
"He's nowhere to be found," said Yoshi. "For all I know, he's in hell." He gripped his sword tightly before him. "And you can go join him, Battousai!"  
  
With that, the young man launched himself at the rurouni. And their duel began.  
==============================  
  
Author's Note: Apologies if there are any typos or weird grammatical errors. I'm posting this at a late hour, and I may not have caught all my mistakes. I'll re-post this chapter if I find any egregious errors later on. Two more chapters to go, and this story's done. 


	11. Chapter 11 Duel by Torchlight

**_RECOVERY_: Chapter 11 – Duel by Torchlight **  
By Haku Baikou  
20.Apr.2003  


* * *

  
A glint of metal, a blinding arc, a streak of motion backlit by flickering torchlight. The two fighters fought in silence, a lethal dance of gleaming blades. Their constantly shifting positions were hinted at in the dim torchlight, but the details were partially obscured by the rain, only to be revealed in brief flashes of lightning. Onlookers from both factions watched quietly, transfixed by the liquid movement of the combatants.  
  
Komagata Yoshi's skill was admirable, no doubt of it. He possessed a grace and competence not commonly seen in young men of the new Meiji Era. Evidence of his formal training was made obvious by the precision of his attacks, by the consistently clean and efficient movements. His katana traced a downward path towards Himura Kenshin's head in a move remarkable for its speed. But it bit into empty air as it missed its mark by a fraction of a second. A jarring impact and a resounding clang of metal followed as Kenshin deflected the young officer's swing with a precise flick of the sakabatou. The blades glanced off each other as Komagata landed gracefully from his leap.   
  
The young man twisted at his waist and, using the momentum from the sideways motion Kenshin's sakabatou had forced on his blade, brought his katana around for a second pass, this time aiming for the rurouni's neck. Again, Komagata's sword was denied its target as Kenshin deftly side-stepped, and with the saya held in his left hand, struck a glancing blow to the young man's shoulder. Komagata hissed in surprise and spun about to face the rurouni, wariness obvious in his eyes.   
  
The young man was good. But he was fighting Himura Kenshin. And the level of skill wasn't even close, Megumi thought. She saw that the drastic difference in abilities was not lost on Shishio's men either. They exchanged nervous looks among their ranks as they watched the fluid motions of the lithe rurouni. To Shishio's men, who had never seen Ken-san in action, the speed and agility of the legendary Battousai must have been a terror to behold.   
  
To Ken-san's friends, however, it was terrifying for a completely different reason. They were troubled by the fact that they could actually behold anything, that they could see Kenshin's moves at all. The rurouni's current weakness was painfully obvious to those who knew him well. And although he retained his grace and defended more than adequately against the young officer's swift attacks, it was all too apparent that something was terribly wrong.   
  
Ken-san's style of fighting was markedly subdued, almost unrecognizable without its characteristic lightning-quick charges and aerial assaults. The rurouni kept to the ground and restrained his defenses to a minimum of movement in an obvious effort to conserve strength, a strength which was flagging by the minute, apparent even to Megumi's untrained eye.  
  
"Komagata-dono, please listen," said Kenshin between passes. The rurouni's voice was strained, his face eerily pale in contrast to the darkened mass of drenched red bangs that plastered against his forehead. "Shishio Makoto was on his knees—"  
  
"Shut up!" The young man cried as his sword shot forward, narrowly missing the rurouni's jaw.  
  
"He was on his knees, defeated," continued Kenshin without relenting. "And Yumi-dono intervened. She placed herself between us, shielding Shishio with her own body."  
  
"I said shut up!"   
  
Another ringing impact as the sakabatou swept aside another sideways blow. A blur of red hair glinted in the firelight, as the smaller of the two men leaped backwards to avoid being cut in two. A glimpse of an angry profile as the taller officer spun in for another round.  
  
"Shishio took his sword and struck through Yumi-dono in an attempt to finish this unworthy one."  
  
"You lie!" The young man's attacks reached new heights of fury. Ken-san visibly flinched at the impact as he defended.  
  
"Yumi-dono died protecting her lord. Sessha cannot pretend to understand it, but she didn't think it was a waste. She was happy in the end—"  
  
He was interrupted by a frighteningly quick series of attacks by the younger man whose advances were fueled by a barely contained rage. Ken-san gasped as he brought his sword arm up, wincing suddenly, apparently from a sharp pain in his injured side.   
  
"Kenshin!" Megumi heard Kaoru's alarmed shout. Megumi spared a quick glance towards the girl. Kaoru's eyes were riveted on the small swordsman, her hands fisted in the folds of her kimono. She looked every bit as frightened as Megumi felt.  
  
"He'll be all right," Megumi whispered, partly for the girl's sake, but more for her own peace of mind.   
  
Megumi didn't know how he was managing it, but Ken-san was still holding his own, despite the pain from a wound that would have left a normal man utterly incapacitated. As ever, the rurouni's indomitable will allowed him to do the impossible, to fend off his opponent's advances and drive the young policeman back once again, giving the red head a moment to breath, to muster his strength.  
  
"Why won't he attack? Why is he just defending?" asked Megumi in frustration. Was it exhaustion? Or perhaps guilt? She didn't know, but she was truly alarmed now by Ken-san's deteriorating condition. Indomitable will or no, Ken-san's strength could not last indefinitely. A few more passes like the last, and his strength was bound to give.   
  
"I'm not sure that he can," Sanosuke answered quietly.  
  
Megumi suppressed a shiver, hugging her arms close to herself.   
  
The two fighters were watching each other in the grim silence. Megumi took some comfort in seeing that Ken-san wasn't the only one affected by the fight. Komagata also seemed to be tiring, his face lacking the confidence he displayed earlier, his breathing not quite as controlled as it had been.  
  
"Sessha never wished to fight you, Komagata-dono," whispered the rurouni. He had dropped the tip of his saya to the ground and was leaning on it for support. "Is there no other way to resolve this?"  
  
Komagata's eyes were hard. "This duel will end in a death, Battousai." His voice was low, surprisingly calm now, his earlier battle frenzy fading to a harsh determination. "Yours or mine. There is no other option."  
  
"_There are always other options!_" a new voice pierced the night air, a familiar and young feminine voice, filled with urgent concern.  
  
A dozen rifles whipped in the direction of the newcomer, a slight figure, a blackened silhouette on the main rooftop of the courtyard. The small figure was accompanied by a larger one, cloaked and solid, twin blades held in a backward grip. The two newcomers seemed unaffected by the sight of a dozen firearms pointed their way. Kitada spared a glance upwards, frowning, trying to make out the identities of the new threat.   
  
"Misao-dono. Aoshi." The shock of recognition made Kenshin's voice tremble slightly.   
  
"What are you doing here!" Okina cried in alarm after having been silent the whole time.   
  
How had they known? How had they made it here? Megumi had no idea, but now was not the time to ask. She was relieved though. Her knees felt weak as, for the first time in her life, her heart leapt with joy, welcoming the dark presence of the former okashira of the oniwabanshu. As much as she hated him, his presence was a most welcomed surprise.  
  
Aoshi and Misao leaped silently down from the roof into the firelight of the courtyard. Misao was breathing heavily, fresh exertion plain on her face. However they had made it here, they must've traveled hard. Even Shinomori's face was slightly flushed from running, although he still managed to look as cold and unperturbed as ever. He eyed the rifles pointed his way with a hint of disdain and then ignored them as he stepped closer to the two combatants.   
  
"Shinomori Aoshi, this fight has nothing to do with you," Komagata said coldly. "This is a duel strictly between myself and Battousai. You've no right to interfere. You will not stop me from killing him!"  
  
"So, kill him," said Shinomori to the young officer. "If you can."  
  
His green eyes flashed, and somehow, he managed to convey contempt without ever altering his expressionless face. "But afterwards, you deal with me."  
  
Shishio's men stirred, shifting about uncomfortably. Some of them looked at each other with unease plain in their eyes.   
  
"If you're strong, you live…" continued the former okashira softly. Megumi thought she saw the man smile ever so slightly. "You won't live."  
  
"Aoshi," interrupted Kenshin. "Sessha appreciates your help. But there is no need for you to be involved with this."  
  
"Himura-san, I don't know what's going on here, but we can't let officer Yoshi fight you like this. You're hurt!" cried Misao indignantly, answering for the both of them.   
  
"Arigatou, Misao-dono. But sessha can handle this," said Kenshin to the girl, his voice not unkind.  
  
Komagata Yoshi was staring at the former okashira, his face unreadable. He shrugged then, as if resigned to his new fate. "So. Whether I win or lose, I die. So be it. But tell me one thing, Shinomori."  
  
The green eyes waited silently.  
  
"Who killed Komagata Yumi?"  
  
The tension was nearly palpable as Yoshi and the rest of Shishio's men waited for the answer.  
  
Shinomori's eyes narrowed slightly, hinting at a trace of puzzlement. He and Misao had left the Shirobeko before Yoshi's plot had been revealed. The question must have seemed quite odd to the two oniwabanshu members.   
  
"Shishio Makoto," he answered.  
  
An audible murmur rippled through the small crowd as Shishio's men responded in shock. Aoshi Shinomori was the last person either side should trust. He had betrayed Shishio's men just as he'd betrayed his own people. But despite his previous actions, no one could say that Shinomori had ever covered his intentions in pretty face-saving lies. For all his ruthlessness, Shinomori was still considered by all to be an honest man.   
  
Komagata was the first to regain his composure. His lips thinned into a determined line, his eyes brilliant and cold as he dropped into a fighting stance, preparing once again to fight.   
  
"No! Didn't you hear him?" cried Kaoru, ignoring Kitada as his rifle swung back towards her. "Why are you doing this! Kenshin didn't kill your sister! You don't have to fight anymore! There's nothing to avenge!"  
  
Yahiko grabbed his instructor's shoulder, keeping her from dashing madly out to the fighters.   
  
"There's nothing you can do! Nothing's going to stop him now!" said the boy.  
  
With a pained grimace, Kenshin straightened, turning to face his opponent, his attention fixed on the young man, concentration unwavering. And then the rurouni did something odd: He switched his sword to his left hand and took the saya in his right.   
  
"Kenshin." Kaoru's face was white. "Oh no, Kenshin, you idiot, what are you doing…."  
  
"What's going on?" Megumi whispered in confusion.  
  
Kaoru's eyes were huge as she regarded the older woman. "I don't think he can wield the sakabatou in his right hand anymore. He hasn't the strength on that side."  
  
"So whatever he's planning on doing," Sano finished the thought for her, "Is going to cost him."  
  
"It can't be the ougi," said Kaoru softly in concern. "He doesn't have the strength for it."  
  
"It doesn't have to be that," said Sano. "This isn't Shishio or Seta Soujiro he's fighting. He can do this, jou chan."   
  
But the street fighter's voice lacked the conviction of his words, and worry tinged his sharp features as he watched his exhausted friend prepare himself to resume the fight.  
  
"It's the battou-jutsu stance," Yahiko breathed, as they watched Kenshin sheath his sword and crouch low, ready for his opponent's charge.  
  
With a furious yell, Komagata rushed forward, his blade sweeping in a blindingly fast arc toward Kenshin's side. The rurouni's response was like nothing he had displayed the whole night, his movement a blur of dark blue and red. A silver flash was all that could be seen as the sakabatou, with a keening metallic whir, whipped left-handed from its saya, slashing at its target, connecting hard across the young man's chest.   
  
Komagata Yoshi was knocked off his feet, his katana flying from his hand. He landed with a sickening thud, the breath knocked out of him, as he lay gasping in the wet mud of the courtyard.  
  
Kenshin's sword completed it's arc, just as the rurouni sank forward, unable to maintain his stance, falling onto one knee. His head was bowed, his chest heaving in ragged breaths almost as pained as those of his winded opponent. He managed to keep himself upright, barely, supporting himself with the sakabatou, its tip buried deep in the mud. His right arm maintained its hold on the saya but hung uselessly at his side.   
  
"Ken-san," Megumi mouthed silently, unable to scream. It was all Megumi could do to keep from going to him, to put her arms around him and support him. She thought she would go mad if this duel didn't end soon.  
  
"Yoshi-kun!" Kitada cried. "Are you all right?" He remained where he was, however, too disciplined to forget he was guarding the enemy.  
  
Komagata Yoshi sat up with difficulty, clutching at the left side of his chest. "You've been toying with me," the young man managed to accuse, his voice tight with pain. "All this time, Battousai, you could have beaten me. You've been holding back."  
  
Kenshin leaned heavily on his sword as he got slowly back to his feet. He stood a bit unsteadily, and Megumi was alarmed to discover the stain from his right side had grown substantially, spreading down his hakama now as far as the rurouni's knee.   
  
Ken-san shook his head. "Sessha wished to avoid further bloodshed. Sessha had hoped to end this peacefully."  
  
"Peacefully?" the younger man spat. "I don't know the meaning of that word anymore! End this, Battousai! Finish me off now. Or by the gods, I will finish you!"  
  
Ken-san looked at the young man a long moment, his face unreadable.   
  
"Iya. No more," the rurouni said softly as he turned his back on his opponent and slowly walked away.  
  
Komagata Yoshi's answer was a feral snarl of unadulterated rage.   
  
And before anyone could react, he sprang to his feet. His hand reached to his belt, traced a blurred arc, and whipped a hidden knife in a glittering, shrieking whirl towards the rurouni's head.   
  
"_Kenshiiin!_" Kaoru's terrified cry reverberated in Megumi's ears.   
  
Megumi's world shattered. Time slowed. She watched in frozen horror as the deadly metal gleamed in the air, hurtling towards Ken-san with nothing to avert its path.   
  
Kenshin didn't move.  
  
Didn't so much as flinch as the blade struck, burying itself in a far wall after missing the rurouni's head by a scant hair's breadth.  
  
The wind blew. And the rain fell.   
  
But the stillness, the absolute stillness in the courtyard, was deafening.   
  
"Kenshin!" gasped Kaoru breaking the silence, her voice ragged. The girl had fallen to her knees, eyes shut in mixed horror and relief, the fabric of her drenched kimono clutched tightly in white-knuckled hands. Next to her, Yahiko's face was ashen, the young boy's eyes larger than Megumi had ever seen them.  
  
Megumi remembered to breathe again, trembled, was surprised to find herself still standing. Saw with dismay that her own fists were clenched so tightly, her fingernails had drawn blood. She looked up to see Sanosuke, struggling to contain pent fury, attention riveted on the two fighters. She touched his arm lightly, and he started violently at the contact, blinking as he looked down at her. He nodded briefly, as if to say he was all right, before turning in concern back towards Ken-san.   
  
Kenshin had finally turned around. He stood, regarding his opponent silently.   
  
Komagata Yoshi had once more picked up his katana. Without another word, he raised it before him and strode forward, until the point of his blade rested against the rurouni's skin. Kenshin looked down at the blade and made no move to avoid contact. He remained where he was, standing quietly as if a knife had never been thrown. As if the sword at his chest wasn't drawing a thin trickle of fresh blood. As if his friends weren't going mad from the strain of holding back the near-irresistible urge to spring into action, to fight, to protect their beloved rurouni.   
  
His face was obscured by a fall of thick red hair as dark as the blood trickling down his skin, as dark as the deep stain that already marked the side of his hakama. If his wounds were bothering him now, he gave no indication of discomfort. In fact, he gave little indication of anything at all. Just stood stock still, sword held lightly in hand. Waiting.  
  
"You'd walk away? Just like that?" asked Komagata, breathing heavily. The rage had dissipated, apparently cast aside in the very moment he'd flung the knife. In its place was a pained confusion, an anguished bewilderment in stark contrast to the rurouni's quiet composure.   
  
"How could you turn your back on me, Battousai?" He shook his head. "I swore to kill you!"  
  
The rurouni's eyes were still lowered. "Sessha knew you would not strike."  
  
Yoshi's sword wavered.  
  
"You couldn't have known!" The young man shook his head violently. "You couldn't have! Even I didn't know what I would do!"  
  
Kenshin finally looked up. Megumi bit her lip as she saw his face. The look in his eyes was one she knew well. A barely perceptible smile tinged with sadness, a look of wary, ever-so-fragile hope.  
  
"Komagata Yoshi would not throw away lives for personal vendetta," said the rurouni gently. "Sessha senses that Yoshi-dono is a good man. Not one who would wantonly kill. He is a man who would sacrifice everything for his friends and loved ones. In that respect," continued the rurouni, "He seems very much like his sister."  
  
Yoshi's face paled.   
  
"Sessha barely knew Yumi-dono, but from what sessha saw of her in the short time she guided us, she was worthy of admiration and respect. Yumi-dono was devoted to her lord to the very end, and she gave of herself completely in her efforts to save him." The rurouni's eyes lowered. "Sessha deeply and truly regrets her death.  
  
"It is unfortunate that you believe your sister died in vain," the rurouni continued. "But sessha cannot allow you to have your revenge. Vengeance will only bring about more killing. And sessha fears the first death after this unworthy one's would be your own.   
  
"You have heard what Aoshi said. He is not one to break his word. If sessha dies tonight, Komagata-dono will be next. Sessha does not approve of Aoshi's decision, but sessha cannot prevent him from doing what he feels in his heart must be done."   
  
Komagata Yoshi backed away slowly from the rurouni, shaking his head. He resumed a fighting stance and stared at the smaller swordsman, his expression flat, inscrutable.   
  
"You talk too much, Battousai."   
  
The hope in Kenshin's eyes died.   
  
With weary resignation, Kenshin tightened his grip on the sakabatou and matched his opponent's stance. His movements were strained, as if what little reserves he had left had now drained completely away. He prepared once again for the younger opponent's charge.   
  
It never came.   
  
Instead, Komagata Yoshi sheathed his sword.   
  
The rurouni frowned. It was Kenshin's turn to be confused.  
  
"If I surrender," Yoshi asked slowly, barely above a whisper. "If I surrender, will you let my men go?"  
  
Amethyst eyes widened slowly in vulnerable surprise as Ken-san stared at his opponent in disbelief. The rurouni seemed afraid to hope, afraid to trust his own ears, afraid to believe that for once in his life, an opponent was agreeing to surrender. Was backing down, taking a non-violent path instead of forcing Kenshin to defeat him.   
  
"Hai," the rurouni whispered, voice barely audible above the sound of the rain.  
  
As Yoshi's men realized what was happening, they suddenly broke out in shouts of protest.  
  
"Yoshi-kun, what are you doing?" Kitada cried. "You have him! You've won! He can't last much longer."  
  
"That's enough!" shouted Yoshi, instantly silencing the other men. The eyes that turned to the older warrior were tired, their fire gone. "I've been a fool, Kitada-san. I've been such a fool."  
  
"Iya, Yoshi-kun."  
  
The young man threw his sword to the ground.   
  
"We were wrong, Kitada-san. My sister wasn't murdered in vain. She died a worthy death. She died fulfilling a dream." His voice shook with fatigue and other emotions Megumi couldn't even begin to guess at.   
  
"I believed Battousai from the beginning," the young officer continued. "But I couldn't let go. Someone had to suffer. Someone had to pay."  
  
Unexpected tears glistened in his eyes as he smiled ruefully at the old warrior. "It's over, Kitada. Take the men and go. Leave Kyoto. Live…. Grow stronger."  
  
"Yoshi-kun…." Kitada said gruffly.   
  
"Do it, Kitada-san."  
  
The older soldier stared at his friend for a long moment.   
  
Megumi didn't know what kind of relationship the two shared, but it was apparent that they'd had a long history together. It was obvious Kitada thought of the young man as a son, and his pain at being ordered to leave without him was etched plainly on his rugged face.  
  
"If you say it's over…then it's over," the old warrior said quietly. "As always, I obey."   
  
Kitada turned to face his comrades. "I stand by Komagata-san. We were mistaken, my friends." His voice softened. "We've had enough fighting to last a lifetime. Now it's time to go home."  
  
Time to go home.   
  
They were words that could have come from anyone's lips. From Sanosuke, or Kaoru, or any of her friends. Megumi's perception of the enemy shifted a little then. She saw them for the first time as just ordinary men. Men who had fought for what they believed to be right. They had followed their lord, and their lord had lost, and in their pain and confusion, they'd thought to make amends by punishing one final sin against their lord's beloved lady. But even that comfort had been taken from them. There was no final sin, no enemy to lash out against, no one to punish.   
  
And now, Megumi could see them as they were. No longer a terrifying enemy army, but a group of tired men. She could see the fatigue in their eyes, could see that they, like herself and her friends, wanted more than anything to leave the fighting behind. They wanted nothing more than to go home.   
  
The wind had died down, the rain a steady drizzle. She was surprised to realize that the lightning and thunder had stopped. The storm had calmed down, as if the night itself could sense what was going on in the courtyard.  
  
Kenshin walked slowly to his opponent. With an effort, he bent down and retrieved Komagata's fallen sword. He held it before him, presenting it to the young man.   
  
"Sayonara…Komagata-dono."  
  
Komagata Yoshi looked at the rurouni, bewilderment plain on his face. "You're letting me go? After all I've done to you?"  
  
"Hai. Komagata-dono should leave with his friends, his family…. Together."  
  
Megumi heard Kaoru give a soft gasp beside her, and her own throat tightened and hurt as she fought threatening tears. Megumi and the rest of Ken-san's friends knew how important those words were to the rurouni.   
  
There was no way young Yoshi could understand the full meaning of the rurouni's words, but they affected him powerfully all the same. The young man stared at the swordsman, stricken, about to lose control of his emotions all together. He took his sword from the rurouni and swallowed, unable to speak.   
  
He bowed instead. Once, low and deep. And without another word, turned and walked away into the darkness.   
  
Kitada collected the rest of their men, and the remnants of Shishio's army followed the young policeman, slowly filing out the courtyard's main doorway. The old warrior, the last to leave, turned one final time to regard Kenshin.  
  
"Battousai, I thank you for sparing him," the old man said quietly. "You will understand, however, if I hope never to see you again."  
  
And with that, he left. And Kenshin and his friends were left alone in the quiet darkness.   
  
"Will Himura be all right?" asked Misao in a hushed voice, her eyes locked on the rurouni in concern.   
  
Kenshin stood quietly, a pale bloodied figure alone in the rain, still staring at the doorway where Komagata and his men had exited. He sighed softly and, with an effort, slowly sheathed the sakabatou.   
  
"Kenshin? Of course," said Sanosuke quietly. "This was what he's always hoped for. A duel that ends without bloodshed. Or, uh, too much bloodshed. I mean…." The street fighter searched in vain for the right words.  
  
"You mean for once, his opponent backed down instead being beaten down," said Yahiko, displaying an insight surprising for his age.  
  
Sanosuke nodded and absently ruffled the boy's head. "Yeah, kid. Something like that."   
  
The rurouni's shoulders drooped. He swayed slightly on his feet. Megumi fought the urge to run to him, for there was another—closer to his heart—who was already headed his way.  
  
"Kenshin!" cried Kaoru, finally free to move. She reached the rurouni and carefully (she'd learned from his battle with Saitou) placed an arm about his slender waist, steadying him.   
  
"Kaoru-dono," he said on an uneven breath. And strangely enough, despite his evident exhaustion, he appeared calm, almost serene. He managed a wan smile for the girl as she cupped her hand lightly around his face. "Sessha has made you wor—"  
  
"It doesn't matter!" she laughed weakly in relief, a desperate little sound, her eyes bright with unshed tears. Those eyes drank in the sight of the rurouni, couldn't seem to get enough of him. "Kenshin no baka. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter…."  
  
"Aa," was all he said as he took her hand in his own.   
  
Himura Kenshin closed his eyes and bowed his head, content to rest for a moment, his scarred cheek against Kaoru's shoulder…before his legs finally folded, and he fainted dead away.   
  
  


* * *

  
okashira = commander; boss  
ougi = succession technique (in this case, Kenshin's Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki)  
saya = sheath  
  


* * *

  
**Author's Note: **  
  
I have to admit. Although I love reading action sequences, I've discovered I hate actually writing them. I had a hard time with this chapter. Everything I wrote sounded utterly cheesy and stupid in the first draft. Major (and multiple) revisions were in order, hence the delay in posting this. Hopefully, I've managed to salvage it somewhat. Hopefully, this wasn't too anticlimactic. Dunno. Comments are always welcome, both positive and negative.  
  
I did a quick little illustration of the end of this chapter to help focus and motivate myself. I'll post it at my site in the fan-fiction section soon. I'm thinking of going back and adding other illustrations to this story. Don't know for sure if I'll do it though.  
  
One more chapter to wrap things up. Wow, can't believe this story's almost done! Thanks to everyone for the kind reviews. Hopefully, chapter 12 will bring a satisfactory sense of closure.  
  
And to those who celebrate it, have a Happy Easter.   
  
  
  
  
  



	12. Chapter 12 Renewal & Resolution

**_RECOVERY:_ Chapter 12 – Renewal & Resolution **  
By Haku Baikou  
24.Apr.2003  


* * *

  
Ken-san's cheeks were slightly flushed, and beads of sweat gathered on his brow, but he looked pleased as he carefully lowered himself down on the mat to rest. More than pleased, really, decided Megumi. He looked downright happy.   
  
Yesterday morning, he had made it down the stairs at the Shirobeko without any assistance for the first time in weeks. Yesterday afternoon, they'd received a surprise visitor in the form of one odd fellow, Chou, formerly of the Juppongatana, who had given Ken-san news that at least some of the Juppongatana were doing well. And today, Ken-san had been able to help alongside everyone else with the Oniwabanshu's move out of the Shirobeko back to the Aoiya. He was still weak, limited to carrying only light, small boxes, and he often had to sit down and catch his breath, but the rurouni was obviously content nonetheless.   
  
His mood had lifted dramatically since he had finally been well enough to do little chores and feel like he was useful again. And when everyone celebrated the re-opening of the Aoiya earlier in the evening with another one of Okina's wild parties, Ken-san had participated as much as he could. He'd even been up for a bit of sake though he still couldn't tolerate much. Nevertheless, he'd enjoyed it, he said, which had pleased everyone. And even Hiko-san's normally stern expression had lifted at that.   
  
Ken-san's smile, as he watched his friends' tipsy attempts at music, had finally lost all traces of sadness, had finally reached all the way to his eyes. It had warmed Megumi's heart, seeing that smile which had been missing for so long. Even now, when the celebration had wound down, and most of their friends were passed out in the dining room, Ken-san's good humor seemed unabated as he sat in his new room at the Aoiya waiting for his dressing change. Megumi sat behind Ken-san preparing a salve for his dressing. She couldn't stop smiling herself, seeing him so happy. The swordsman's eyes were closed as he listened to the sound of crickets and reveled in the feel of a cool night breeze across his skin. His smile was a bit fainter than before at the celebration, since he was pleasantly exhausted from a busy day, but still, it was unequivocally and firmly in place.   
  
It was a welcome change from the pitiful, rain-drenched form Sanosuke had carried back from the courtyard encounter with Komagata Yoshi ten days ago. Megumi recalled that horrible night with a slight shudder. It had been utter chaos when they'd finally returned to the Shirobeko, what with their attempts at reviving a cold and unresponsive rurouni amid the frenetic comings and goings of Oniwabanshu members, Shirobeko staff, and several police.   
  
Gradually, when the various reports had come in, the pieces of the big picture had become clear. Komagata Yoshi's main purpose all along had been to draw out Ken-san for that fateful match. All of the other attacks by Shishio's men had been peripheral to that central plan, mere decoys, intended to scatter police and Oniwabanshu forces so they couldn't put up one unified front for defense.  
  
Yoshi's plan had been quiet effective. Aoshi and Misao had arrived at the Aoiya to find only a handful of enemy soldiers. They'd realized their error immediately, that they'd left the main site of danger back at the Shirobeko. And then they had run full-tilt back towards Sae's restaurant, leaving Kurojou and Masukami to deal with the small enemy force at the Aoiya. To their dismay, Aoshi and Misao had returned to find the Shirobeko abandoned. And only when the two spies had taken to the rooftops, methodically searching the surrounding streets below, had they noticed the torchlight from Shishio's men in an otherwise darkened sector.  
  
Meanwhile, Sae, who had been content to wait at the Oniwabanshu safe house with Shirojou and Oumime, had become alarmed when she'd heard the sound of gunshots in the distance. Despite strong objections by the Oniwabanshu, the small Shirobeko proprietress had insisted on returning to the site once the gunfire had stopped. She had been terrified for her new friends' well-being, not to mention she'd wanted to see what kind of damage had been done to the restaurant that had been run by her family for generations. The two Oniwabanshu agents had finally relented after the streets had been quiet for a full hour. And despite their better judgment, Shirojou and Oumime had allowed Sae to gather some of her staff. They'd then carefully accompanied the proprietress and Shirobeko workers back to the restaurant. The group had arrived to find the place surprisingly intact, full of people, and bustling with activity. Kurojou and Masukami of the Oniwabanshu had also arrived by that time, having defeated the small enemy group at the Aoiya.   
  
Several police officers had been dispatched by their chief at headquarters to see to the Shirobeko once the the gunmen shooting at them had been defeated. Two dozen officers had arrived at the same time Megumi and her friends finally made their slow progress from the abandoned warehouse courtyard. The two groups had met, finally exchanging news of what had been happening that night. The police had also informed them that Hiko-san and the Arais had fortunately seen no enemy activity at the Arai home.   
  
And that was the state of affairs as Megumi and her friends tried to wake Ken-san. The four of them had ignored the frenzied activity: Policemen setting up a perimeter just in case the enemy changed their mind; officers questioning Goro about his friend Yoshi; Okina and the Oniwabanshu holding council to figure out what went wrong with their network and to come up with ways to improve their performance next time; Sae's people setting up spare rooms upstairs for the police officers whom they'd invited to stay overnight since it was so late by the time they'd all arrived.   
  
Instead, Megumi and her friends were concerned only about one person. One small, red-headed swordsman who was the center of their collective world at the moment.   
  
Ken-san had looked terrible. Nearly as bad as the day Megumi first examined him almost a month ago. And as before, he had not awakened to any of their initial efforts at reviving him. The anemic rurouni had been so thoroughly chilled by the wind and rain that his small body felt cold despite several thick blankets and the heat of multiple oil lamps they'd set around him in his room. They'd finally had to immerse him in steaming hot water in the bathhouse. (And they'd then had to send out a very frightened looking Yahiko after the water had turned red from Ken-san's wound.) Only then had Ken-san warmed up and stirred a bit, beginning to show some signs of life again.   
  
It was almost two days before Ken-san truly awoke. Megumi had begun to worry that he had suffered a relapse of the condition he was in after fighting Shishio, but her concerns were at last assuaged when the rurouni had finally regained full awareness of his surroundings. He had been frighteningly weak, all of his progress from the previous few weeks negated in that one short fight. And he had developed a taxing fever and cough as well, which had had Megumi and Kaoru worried out of their minds as they'd helplessly watched his thin frame wracked by uncontrollable coughing spasms.   
  
But the gods must have finally taken pity on Himura Kenshin (or agreed that he'd more than paid his dues) for the rurouni's cough had never developed into a full-blown lethal pneumonia as it easily could have done. And his torn wound never became infected despite its exposure to the mud when Ken-san had fallen. In fact, the wound in his side seemed to have taken a turn for the better, and amazingly enough, had finally begun to close up and heal. Megumi could not understand why this was so, since she had taken the same care this time in treating the wound as she had before the fight. She was doing nothing differently, and yet the evidence was there. The wound had gradually shrunk and healed, finally closing off completely a week after the duel. When she had commented on its progress, Ken-san had merely smiled and repeated that enigmatic little quote about hatred and non-healing wounds and revenge.   
  
Although the wound in his side had healed well, the rest of Ken-san wasn't quite as quick to catch up. Megumi worried greatly about the amount of time it was taking for him to regain his strength. Granted, he had been seriously injured, but Ken-san's progress was still slower than she'd expected. She began to wonder if something was terribly wrong with the rurouni, but she couldn't find any obvious evidence of the fact. It was all based on a gut feeling, on instinct, so Megumi kept her concerns to herself, content to just keep a close eye on him for now until she could find something more substantial, or, until the rurouni's condition improved. Hopefully, his unusually slow recovery was simply a mark of extreme blood loss and exhaustion. Hopefully it was only temporary.  
  
At any rate, Ken-san had begun once again to push himself as hard as he dared, and was slowly improving. And that, to Megumi's estimation, was good enough for her. She smiled secretly to herself, thinking of the day Ken-san had once again sneaked out of bed before he was technically permitted. Megumi had purposefully instructed the rurouni to stay in bed for longer than really necessary, knowing full well that he would subtract a day or two from the number she gave. And so she'd told him five days, expecting him to be out of bed in three. She was right, of course. And she'd pretended to be indignant when she'd caught him leaning against the wall, smiling sheepishly at being caught red-handed again. Ah, Ken-san.  
  
"It's good to see you doing so well, Ken-san," she said, as she checked briefly on the tea she was brewing and went back to mixing the cream. It was a kidachi tougarashi based cream for his back. Ken-san's only discomfort now was a tightness and burning sensation along the length of the large scar there.  
  
"All because of Megumi-dono's expert care."  
  
"Iya." She blushed. She helped Ken-san out of his gi and moved his hair off to the side so that it was out of the way.   
  
"So, now that you're well again, perhaps you can do some sight seeing, Ken-san," she said brightly. "I'm sure Kyoto has changed a great deal since the last time you were here."  
  
"Hai," he said softly. "There is one place…one person sessha intends to visit tomorrow morning. Alone."   
  
There was an odd catch to his voice, and Megumi saw that Ken-san's smile had a tinge of sadness again. She was about to become concerned, but she saw that something was different this time. The sadness was there, yes, but it was laced with a sense of peace, warmth, a remembrance of something long ago, something that had been good. There was no sign of hopeless resignation, of another burden to bear. Megumi was reassured then, that Ken-san wasn't slipping into another bout of brooding.   
  
"An old friend?" she asked cautiously as she handed him a cup of the tea. Something in her heart hurt as she wondered if it might be the woman whom he had called for while delirious, whom she was sure he cared so much about. She decided to risk the question. "Tomoe perhaps?"  
  
A minute tensing of his back as he turned around with a slight widening of his eyes. And although his expression remained amiable, Megumi sensed the mask coming down, and she sighed inwardly, knowing she'd find only a wall of willfully enigmatic answers from now on.   
  
"Hai," he said finally. "It's been ten years. Sessha owes her that much."  
  
"But she left you." Megumi regretted saying the words as soon as they left her mouth. "I don't see why you'd owe her anything, Ken-san," she said in a softer tone, trying to take the edge off the accusation.  
  
"She left…because of something unforgivable sessha did."  
  
A thought suddenly came to mind as Megumi studied the his face. "And is that why you've been wandering these ten years? Because of her?"  
  
"Partly."   
  
"You must have loved her a great deal."  
  
Ken-san had turned his head away again, and Megumi could no longer see the expression on his face.   
  
"Hai. Sessha loves her still."  
  
Megumi swallowed. It explained a number of things. Why Ken-san never seemed to notice of other women. Why, from the beginning, Ken-san had been shy of Megumi's advances. Why Ken-san distanced himself even from Kaoru's modest displays of affection when it was so obvious to everyone that the girl's feelings for the rurouni were obviously reciprocated. Megumi had suspected as much as soon as Ken-san had uttered the woman's name so many weeks ago. But she had been afraid to ask at the time. The words, when spoken, gave a finality to the painful truth that until now, had seemed distant, and not entirely real.  
  
"Ken-san." Megumi was suddenly furious at this woman for leaving Ken-san, for causing him such pain. "Ken-san, maybe this isn't such a good idea. What if she—I know it's not my place to say this—but maybe she won't want to see you. And surely she's married by now, and—"  
  
"She married long ago," said Kenshin, still with an odd tone in his voice. "Sessha…knows her husband well."  
  
"Oh." It was one of those infrequent occasions in which Megumi, the smooth and sophisticated Fox Lady, was at a loss for words.   
  
"Megumi-dono, someday sessha would like to explain, but—"  
  
"Iya, Ken-san. Forgive me. I was rude to pry." She blinked, regaining her manners and her sanity. She focused her attentions back on the business at hand. The medicinal cream was finished, and she began applying a thin layer along the scar.   
  
"So you're going alone tomorrow." She couldn't hide the concern from her voice. "Are you sure you'll be safe? You still haven't fully recovered."  
  
She could hear the smile in his voice.   
  
"Megumi-dono need not worry. Just a pleasant walk on a summer's day. Sessha will be fine, de gozaru."   
  
She would have liked to send someone with him or have the police bring a carriage though she knew Ken-san would have hated such a thing. Walking down the stairs successfully was one thing, but strolling about all over Kyoto for gods-knew-how-long, that was something else. And there was always this Tomoe woman's husband. Megumi wasn't convinced that Ken-san's reception would be entirely friendly.   
  
But that contentment in his voice…. She couldn't do anything to risk breaking such a hard-won, vulnerable happiness. Ken-san had been miserable for so long. Megumi didn't have the heart to rein him in with safety precautions, to deny him anything this night.   
  
"I hope all goes well, then," she said, sounding much more cheery than she felt.   
  
"Well," she said as she finished with the cream and took a long bandage off the tray. She struggled to keep her voice light. "It looks like the wound on your back is all right now, but I'll be on the safe side and change the bandage."  
  
"Thank you so much." He seemed glad at the change in subject.   
  
"Oh no, it's all right. But if you get another bad wound like this one…" Megumi couldn't help the small concerned noise that escaped her throat. "I won't help you."   
  
"I'll be careful then, de gozaru-yo."  
  
_ You'd better be, Ken-san,_ she thought to herself. She was in the strangest mood now, and she didn't know why. The awful scar on his back was always a sight that made her depressed. Or maybe it was the mention of Tomoe's name. Megumi was shocked to find tears suddenly welling in her eyes. She felt weak of a sudden, about to lose control of herself for no apparent reason. The Fox Lady portion of her mind rolled her eyes at this maudlin display, but Megumi couldn't seem to help it. She leaned her forehead against Ken-san's back, fighting to get her breathing under control.   
  
"Megumi-dono…." Surprise and concern in his voice. He said nothing more, however. Didn't move or look back. Just sat quietly while she had her head against his back, giving her time to compose herself.  
  
"Gomen, Ken-san," she said after a moment. "I don't know what came over me."  
  
"Megumi-dono's presence has been invaluable in the last few weeks," he said softly. "This rurouni is truly unworthy of such kindness and selfless care."  
  
"Iya! You think too little of yourself, Ken-san," she said with an embarrassed little laugh.  
  
"As does, Megumi-dono."  
  
Ken-san reached up and wiped away a lingering tear from her cheek. It was a simple act, but coming from the reserved rurouni, it was a display of familiarity that was astonishing. His eyes were filled with concern, and at that moment, Megumi felt as if her heart would burst.   
  
"We're very much alike, then, aren't we, Ken-san."   
  
And there was nothing more that needed to be said between the two of them. They were alike, they were friends, and they were practically family. Ken-san knew Megumi's feelings for him went beyond even those strong bonds. And by the look in his eyes now, and by past actions, Megumi knew that the rurouni truly wished he could return that love in kind. She also knew, that to spare them the necessity of stating out loud what would obviously be painful for both, Ken-san would never openly acknowledge his awareness, or his inability to return those feelings. If he feigned ignorance, he would never have to utter words that would break her heart.  
  
It was a delicate understanding reached by unspoken agreement long ago. She couldn't have his love, but she had the next best things: his admiration, his respect, his friendship… all precious things in their own right. It was the most he could offer her. And despite the bittersweet pain of it, it was an arrangement that she found she could live with. Fox Lady would continue to tease and flirt mercilessly. And Rurouni would continue to "oro" with naive incomprehension. And that was the way things would be.  
  
"Oro," he whispered, gentle amusement in his knowing eyes. As if he'd read her mind.  
  
She laughed then, the odd little moment gone. Back into more comfortable territory….  
  
"I officially proclaim you well again, Ken-san," she said pleasantly as she quickly cleaned up the bandages and putting them neatly on the tray she'd brought. "And now that you have no more need of a physician, I think I will take a much needed break. I, for one, am tired!"  
  
He hesitated slightly. "Sano is up on the roof, Megumi-dono. He would enjoy your company, de gozaru."  
  
She arched an eyebrow in surprise and turned to regard an innocent looking red-head.   
  
Innocent hell. Ken-san really was good with the rurouni act, she thought to herself. There were times even she would forget the true nature of the mind that lay behind those disarming lavender eyes.   
  
Vaguely Foxish thoughts skittered across her mind. "Is he now…."  
  
Megumi turned to go.   
  
"Megumi-dono," said the rurouni softly. He searched for words, for once bereft of his usual eloquence. "There is no way sessha could ever adequately repay you for your help…."  
  
She managed to keep her voice steady as her vision blurred once again. "You're welcome, Ken-san." She smiled. "Oyasumi nasai."  
  
Kenshin smiled back. "Oyasumi nasai… Megumi-dono."  
  
She left then, sliding the door closed, leaving the rurouni sitting thoughtfully on the mat, contemplative as he quietly drank his tea.   
  
Takani Megumi stood outside the room, hesitating, not quite wanting to go. She shook her head. Ken-san didn't need her anymore. She had done what she came to Kyoto to do, had done everything she was capable of to ensure his physical well-being.   
  
Megumi took a deep breath, and in that moment, made a fateful decision. She would take action tomorrow. She would take action so that Ken-san would be whole in both spirit and body. Takani Megumi had done all she could do. As for the rest, there was only one person who could truly help Ken-san. One blue-eyed, indigo-ribboned person. And Megumi's eyes narrowed slightly as she made plans to speak with that person tomorrow morning.   
  
Her expression must have been odd, for Hiko Seijurou's eyebrow arched in mild curiosity as he passed her in the hall.   
  
She blinked. "Oh, Hiko-san. Are you going to visit Ken-san?"  
  
He nodded. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"No, I was just concerned about him."  
  
Hiko waited.  
  
"He's going to visit this Tomoe woman tomorrow, and he's going alone," she blurted. Her eyes widened. She really was in a strange mood tonight.   
  
A thoughtful look passed Hiko's face, but he remained otherwise unperturbed. He smirked. "Don't worry about my baka deshi. He'll be all right," he said. "And I'll keep an eye on him," he added more seriously.  
  
She thanked him, much reassured. She felt better knowing that the swordsman would be watching. And with a lighter heart, Megumi decided to seek more cheerful company. She tended to be far too moody when around Ken-san for too long. There were other friends whose presences were far more relaxing.   
  
Megumi headed out to the roof.  
  
As Ken-san had said, Sano was there, sitting by himself, looking quietly up at the stars. It surprised Megumi to find him this way. She didn't think he was the type to stargaze. It seemed too deep and serene an activity for the normally energetic Rooster Head.  
  
He turned at the sound of her approach.   
  
"Kitsune," he said in greeting as she carefully made her way to his side. "What are you doing up here at this hour?"  
  
"Just getting some fresh air." She sat comfortably and brushed the dust off her hands. "Do you do this often?"  
  
"What, look at the stars? Heh. No. Only when I'm slightly drunk."  
  
No wonder. She smirked.  
  
"Look, Kitsune, I never got a chance to say this, but…" he shrugged. "You're not a burden."  
  
"What?" she asked confused.  
  
"That night when Kenshin fought Komagata," he tried to explain. "Kenshin wanted to send you off with Sae and I said you'd be nothing but a burden. I was wrong. I didn't mean that."  
  
Oh, that. Megumi had all but forgotten. She looked at Sano. He really was tipsy to be saying such things. She resisted the urge to smile. He'd only take it the wrong way.   
  
"No offense taken," she assured him.   
  
She thought back to that night, to the reaction she'd had to the possibility of being separated from her friends. Six months ago, she would have never thought to have felt such feelings for a group of people other than her family. And now, she thought with a warmth in her heart….   
  
How her life had changed. It had been such a gradual change, she hadn't even noticed until now. Fear no longer claimed her. Nor desperation nor despair. She had friends. She had love. And she had hope.   
  
Hope for her own future and the future of those she cared about. Her new family. She swallowed, and rested her chin on her knees, closing her eyes.   
  
"Megumi?" Sanosuke put a hand lightly on her arm. "You all right?"  
  
She nodded.   
  
Her family, the thought came again. She liked the sound of that. And they'd all be heading back to Tokyo soon. Back home. Together.   
  
"I'm all right," she said smiling. "Everything is wonderful."  
  
He said nothing. Merely sat there, regarding her with his usual intensity, seemingly unsure as to whether she was being sarcastic or not.   
  
She laughed softly. "Baka." Spoken with reassurance. And tender fondness.  
  
The ex-street fighter's mouth quirked in a roguish little smile at the word. He leaned back against the roof tiles, arms behind his head, comfortable and brimming with contentment as he gazed up at the constellations. Megumi smiled at him and did likewise, relaxing next to the street fighter on the gentle slope of the roof, playing idly with a strand of her hair.   
  
The stars in the skies of Kyoto looked the same as the ones over Tokyo, the same as the ones over Aizu.   
  
Aizu…. With a little blink of surprise she realized it had been weeks since she'd thought of her home town. She really had changed then, if she could go for such a length of time without thinking of her personal tragedies.   
  
Aizu…. She'd come all this way, and yet the stars were still the same. She found it oddly reassuring.   
  
Her thoughts drifted. She remembered happier moments in her past, and she pondered the good things yet to come in her future.   
  
And for the first time in many years… Takani Megumi allowed herself to dream.  
  
  
  
  
  
Owari.  
  


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Thank you for reading my story.  
  
  
Baka deshi = stupid apprentice  
Gomen = sorry  
Kidachi tougarashi = capsicum (as in a type of pepper)  
Kitsune = Fox  
Oro = (Need I explain this?!?)  
Oyasumi nasai = good night  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	13. Disclaimer & Author's Note

**Recovery: Disclaimer for Chapters 1-12**  
  
This is a fan fiction based on the Rurouni Kenshin manga series. Rurouni Kenshin characters are the property of creator Nobohiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shounen Jump, and Sony Entertainment. This is a non-profit piece for entertainment purposes only. Permission was not obtained from the above parties. If any of the above parties or their representatives have a complaint regarding this story, please contact me (my e-mail is in my profile), and I will comply with any stated requests.   
  
(I know it's a bit late for the disclaimer seeing as I've been writing this thing for months, heh. Pardon my lapse.)

* * *

  
**Author's Note:**  


Whew! An unabashedly WAFFy ending. Heh. _Recovery _is finally done. (HakuBaikou wipes her brow.) I hope the final chapter was satisfactory! I hope I tied up all the loose ends. This was my first attempt at fan fiction, and I must say, it was a lot more fun than I expected. I originally started this story on a whim while bored one night. It became somewhat of an obsession after the encouraging reviews started popping up, and I started writing more…and enjoying it. This is the first time writing didn't seem a chore. (I most definitely do not consider myself a serious writer! I prefer drawing to writing.) Anyway, as much fun as this was, I'm glad it's done. This is the definitely the longest thing I've ever written in my life! Woohoo.  
  
Thanks to the following for their kind reviews:   
aniprinzess, Anuradha, Baldachin, beverlyhighland, bluedragongirl, Brownilocs, Buffalo Maiden, cardinal, C-Chan, Cherie Dee, cookie, Crazy Girl Person, dark-coyote, eri, Feroz, g3ozLizh, Jadeyuy, Katharine the Great, kimeko, Living on Dreams, megami no tsura, MightyMightyMunson, Naomi, PinkPlatinumMami, Polka dot, RiikiTikiTavi, Rook, Shinomori no Kami Daiji, shitsumon, Strife, supernaturalove, Thickle, and tsuki-chan. (Apologies if I accidentally left off someone's name!) 

Special thanks to the following for their continuous support:   
Akai Kitsune, Calger459, Conspirator, mad melma, Mir, Prudence-chan, and Stormy rose.  
  
Really, the reviews were a great help. Your suggestions, thoughtful critiques, and morale-boosting praise were very much appreciated. They made this whole writing experience worthwhile, and now I'm all geared up and ready to go on my next fic.

For the record, although I do like her a lot, Megumi isn't my favorite character either. She seemed the most sensible choice for a protagonist in this case though, considering this story was about healing, and well, she is a healer. I also thought there'd be plenty of room to play with, as far as character development, since she's so often present in the RK series, but so rarely in the foreground. And in case anyone is wondering...No, I'm not sure which character the title refers to. Kenshin's or Megumi's recovery. I'll leave that for the reader to decide.  
  
Once again, thanks everyone!  
  
Sincerely,  
Haku Baikou  


  
  
  



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